(Johannesburg, South Africa) South African gay couples have filed suit in the Johannesburg High Court seeking to have a law overturned that restricts marriage to opposite sex couples.

"Recognition of (same-sex) marriages will eradicate unfair legal restrictions against lesbian and gay people and assist in removing the stigma associated with the community," Evert Knoesen, director of the Lesbian and Gay Equality Project told the South African press on Friday.

The LGEP is joined by 18 individuals in the case that has taken as decade to reach the high court.

The suit argues that the Marriage Act of 1961, which expressly bans same-sex couples from entering into the institution of civil marriage, is unconstitutional. South Africa's Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and enshrines the rights of lesbian and gay people.

So far the government has not commented on the suit.

"We are not even sure whether the government will oppose the application," said Knoesen. "We hope that they do not. Our struggle is not against government, but against an inherited legal system."

South Africa has been a leader in advancing LGBT rights, but marriage has remained elusive. Among the things it would give same-sex couples is the assurance partners could make decisions on each other's behalf and the right to inherit if a partner dies without a will

by Mark Levy, 365Gay.com News centre, Cape Town, South Africa Bureau,  ©365Gay.com® 2004