The Distance between Death and Marriage: CITIZENSHIP, VIOLENCE AND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IN SOUTH AFRICA

This article utilizes qualitative research from South Africa to problematize the global movement for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Taking seriously the centrality of sexuality to the establishment of empire, the article locates marriage as a mechanism not only of heteronormativity, but also of racialization. While marriage is heralded by international and national LGBT organizations as the greatest measure of societal inclusion within a liberal democracy, the article argues that heteronormativity, through the institution of marriage, is reinforced rather than challenged or shifted with the inclusion of same-sex couples. For black lesbian women in South Africa, the reinforcement of heteronorms has very real consequences, not least of which is the further entrenchment of a discourse that characterizes same-sex sexuality as 'un-African'. The article suggests that the 'inclusion' in citizenship extended by marriage legislation comes at great cost and concludes by suggesting a reprioritization of goals for global LGBTIQ movements.