S. Africa's Top Court Blesses Gay Marriage
Parliament Given One Year to Amend Law
By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, December 2, 2005; Page A16

JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 1 -- South Africa's highest court on Thursday recognized the marriage of two Pretoria women and gave Parliament a year to extend legal marital rights to all same-sex couples.

The ruling, greeted with jubilation by gay men and lesbians but with frustration by some church leaders, will make South Africa the first country to allow marriages between gay people on a continent where homosexual activity is widely condemned and often outlawed. Story