LGBT rights in South Africa

==Recognition of same-sex relationships==
[[File:Gay troue.jpg|thumb|Same-sex wedding in [[Langebaan]], 2007]]
{{main|Same-sex marriage in South Africa}}
On 1 December 2005, in the case of ''[[Minister of Home Affairs v Fourie]]'', the Constitutional Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for the state to deny same-sex couples the ability to marry, and gave Parliament one year in which to rectify the situation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Parliament ordered to allow gay marriage |date=1 December 2005 |newspaper=[[Mail & Guardian]] |url=http://mg.co.za/article/2005-12-01-parliament-ordered-to-allow-gay-marriage |access-date=10 July 2011}}</ref> On 30 November 2006, the ''[[Civil Union Act, 2006|Civil Union Act]]'' came into force; despite its title it does provide for same-sex marriages. This made South Africa the fifth country in the world and the first in Africa to legalize same-sex marriage.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Awondo |first1=Patrick |last2=Geschiere |first2=Peter |last3=Reid |first3=Graeme |date=2012 |title=Homophobic Africa? Toward A More Nuanced View |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43904852 |journal=African Studies Review |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=145–168 |doi=10.1017/S0002020600007241 |jstor=43904852 |s2cid=145161021 |issn=0002-0206}}</ref> Indeed, the act allows both same-sex and opposite-sex couples to contract unions, and allows a couple to choose to call their union either a marriage or a civil partnership. Whichever name is chosen, the legal consequences are the same as those under the ''[[Marriage Act (South Africa)|Marriage Act]]'' (which allows only for opposite-sex marriages).

Prior to the introduction of same-sex marriage, court decisions and statutes had recognised permanent same-sex partnerships for various specific purposes, but there was no system of domestic partnership registration. The rights recognised or extended by the courts include the duty of support between partners, immigration benefits, employment and pension benefits, joint adoption, parental rights to children conceived through artificial insemination, a claim for loss of support when a partner is negligently killed, and [[intestate]] inheritance. Rights extended by statute include protections against domestic violence and the right to family responsibility leave.