Concluding Thoughts

The book illustrates how achieving same-sex marriage in South Africa was a result of a confluence of various factors. Before the Constitutional Court, activists tactically framed sexual orientation discrimination and same-sex marriage in terms of human rights. The comparison of the case study countries illustrates the interaction of competing discourses, namely politics, culture, and religion. In all cases, homophobic sentiment dominated public discussion of consensual same-sex acts and same-sex relationships, and the ‘homosexuality is un-African’ narrative featured prominently.