Judgment Reserved on Issue of “Gay Marriage” in Church

By FOR SAOn Tuesday, 21 August, the long-awaited case of Gaum vs Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa (“the DRC”) was finally heard by a full bench (Judges Raulinga, Potterill and Molefe) of the Pretoria High Court. The judges heard a full day of argument by the various Counsel for the Applicants (LGBT members of the DRC), the Respondents (the DRC), the Commission for Gender Equality (“CGE” – the first amicus curiae in the matter), the Minister of Home Affairs and the Alliance Defending the Autonomy of Churches in South Africa (“ADACSA” – the second amicus curiae in the matter).The Court reserved judgment, which could take a while to come out. While it is difficult to say – and only time will tell – which way the Court will lean, it is very possible that in any event this will not the end of the road because the losing party will likely consider an appeal to a higher court. For more, see https://forsa.org.za/articles/judgment-reserved-on-issue-of-gay-marriage-in-church/