The South African parliament approved legislation recognizing gay marriages this morning.

The bill provides for the ”voluntary union of two persons, which is solemnized and registered by either a marriage or civil union.” It does not specify whether they are heterosexual or homosexual partnerships.

But it also says marriage officers need not perform a ceremony between same-sex couples if doing so would conflict with his or her ”conscience, religion and belief.”

The bill is now on its way to to the National Council of Provinces and then to President Thabo Mbeki.

You can find Maria on MySpace here and read her current call for essays on femme identity here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.