South Africa Marriage Law Goes Into Effect!

As Rod 2.0 points out, South Africa's recently passed civil unions law goes into effect today! The country which used to be a symbol of racial apartheid and disregard for basic human rights now has some of the most progressive laws and policies regarding same-sex couples and equal rights for all disenfranchised and subordinated minorities in the world. It's sort of interesting to reflect how the contemporary commitment in South Africa to nondiscrimination by the State in all respects is a very product of the blatant and explicit governmentally sanctioned exclusionary policies which were once considered traditional and permanent.

Of course, the country is not without its problems, namely with HIV prevalence rates in the general populace approaching 30%, and the current ANC Government's response has been less than laudatory, to be sure.