A movement towards change

This week SSO turns the focus on South Africa, a country with a stained reputation, where images of violence and destruction are beamed around the world.

Despite the current South African legal system permitting virtual equality for its gay and lesbian population, Pretoria-raised Justin Field, 35, still believes the deeply conservative society has a long way to go before embracing homosexuality.

I think the laws have made it marginally easier. People are no longer concerned that it’s illegal and you could be charged, said Justin, But day-to-day, I don’t think it’s that much different. The society is too conservative.

Perhaps gays and lesbians are more visible now.

Justin grew up under the apartheid laws that were not only racist but denied equality. To meet other gay people, Justin joined an activist group, GLOP (Gay and Lesbian Organisation of Pretoria). The group established a community helpline that’s still in existence.

In a very repressed society the helpline offered assistance to people who just wanted to talk, he said. It was also great to be part of a movement for change and to raise awareness.

Justin, who’s been living in Sydney’s eastern suburbs since 1999, clearly remembers his reaction when he first learnt that a non-discrimination clause for sexual preference was to be included in the new South African constitution.

Wow, I thought: brave new world. That clause will guarantee our freedom, he said.

In 1994 the African National Congress, charged with drafting the constitution, was determined to enshrine freedom and equality for all citizens, in order to make a clean break from the oppression and segregation of apartheid.

Tafula Shai, consular official with the South African High Commission explains: The new constitution guaranteed the eradication of all forms of discrimination also extending equal status before the law.

By including sexual orientation, the South African constitution became the first in the world to do so.

This is something that South Africans should be proud of. Because that clause exists, any individual can take the government to court. All of the other equality laws have come from that, said Justin.

The new constitution facilitated a bill allowing same-sex marriage. A lesbian couple hoping to marry took their case to the constitutional court. The government ruled that there should be complete equality for all citizens and approved marriage in its entirety in November 2006.

Tafula Shai said, In passing this legislation the government was fulfilling the constitutional obligation including the reinstatement of the dignity of the same-sex couples as equals in the evolution and development of the modern-day society.

I would like to take advantage of these marriage laws, said Justin.

I think it’s ridiculous that if I’m married in South Africa my marriage isn’t recognised in Australia.

The Australian laws can potentially be equated with apartheid laws, where the marriage of a mixed race Australian couple wouldn’t be recognised in pre-1994 South Africa.

It is the diversity of Sydney’s gay scene that convinced Justin to remain here.

Sydney has a vibrant gay life that is really out there: a big community feel, sporting clubs, cultural groups. That’s what I really like about living in Sydney, he said. South Africa doesn’t have that. It’s still very much underground.