Cape Town - The owners of Beloftebos, the wedding venue which was sued by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) after it refused to host the wedding of a same-sex couple, have approached the SAHRC with new proposals in a bid to resolve the matter.
The owners of the venue in Stanford, which is near Hermanus, refused to host Sasha-Lee Heekes and fiancée Megan Watling's wedding ceremony because of their religious conviction that “marriage is a sacred covenant between a man and a woman in the presence of God”.
The refusal led Heekes and Watling to take their grievance to the SAHRC, which undertook to pursue legal action against the venue at the Equality Court of the Western Cape High Court.
In a letter to the SAHRC, the owners of the venue, Coia and Andries de Villiers, said they would like to resolve the matter, which has been continuing for over two years, amicably.
The letter said that the owners of the venue now recognise that the SAHRC has a responsibility to take action when anyone abuses their beliefs about marriage to undermine the dignity of people and to promote hatred, bigotry and prejudice against those who may have very different but equally intensely-held beliefs about marriage.
Reached for comment, SAHRC commissioner Andre Gaum said he would not comment on the matter except to say that the Commission was still considering its position and that he was surprised that the contents of the letter had been shared with the media.
Freedom of Religion South Africa Executive Director Michael Swain said the owners of Beloftebos have stated clearly and consistently that it has never been about the sexual orientation of any person.
"They have at every opportunity made it crystal clear that they fully respect and recognise the constitutional rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.”
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za