south africa is a unique case!

Source: New Vision

March 17, 2006: In the Sunday Monitor of  March 12, Kevin O'connor criticised Cineplex for refusing to show a film that won international awards on the basis that it aimed at showing how love and intimacy are also essential in gay and lesbian marriages.

He went on to refer to South Africa as an example of a country that has accepted gay and lesbians. In fact on December 1, 2005 the Constitutional Court in South Africa ruled that same-sex marriages are legal in South Africa.

The reason why South Africa has accepted same-sex marriages is that South Africa's constitution is the only one in the world which specifically enacts that it is  unconstitutional to discriminate against any person on the ground of one's sexual orientation. All the laws in South Africa have been amended to reflect that.

In Uganda, same-sex sexual intercourse is still an offence under the Penal Code. In fact, in Uganda there are attempts to amend the constitution and clarify that the right to marry and found a family as stipulated in the Constitution should not be extended to cover same-sex marriages. Whether this is in line with our international human rights obligations is another issue.

Kevin also indicated that some people are born homosexuals. This school of thought (the essentialist) has been criticised by the construction theory which has shown, through intensive research, that being erotically attracted to people of the same-sex is nurtured.

Jamil Mujuzi
Kampala