Homos exual guesthouses that exclude heteros exual couples, women and l esbians have been given the green light by the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE). According to a Sunday Times report, the commission’s ruling said it was possible to discriminate positively. Wits University law lecturer Tracy-Lynn Field is quoted as saying that although the constitutionality of the ruling could still be tested, recommendations made by organisations such as the CGE carried a lot of weight. Field said the Constitution only prohibited unfair discrimination. ‘So the question is, there may be discrimination but the issue is, is it unfair or not?’ The ruling comes after the G ay and L esbian Alliance asked the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to investigate 11 businesses on the grounds that their exclusivity denied the public access on the basis of s exual orientation, skin colour, gender or religion. The SAHRC referred the complaint to the CGE which, in its ruling, said that ‘accommodation of this nature is necessary in our democratic society to advance legitimate interests of the aforementioned groups’. SAHRC chairman Jody Kollapen said he was worried about the effects of exclusivity. ‘While it may be acceptable to have an association that is established to advance the interest of a particular group, it’s quite different when you are dealing with public facilities.’
Full Sunday Times report
Supplied courtesy of Legalbrief Today.
