ABSTRACT

OHJLVODWLYHFKDQJHV,QWKH1HWKHUODQGVZDVWKH¿UVWFRXQWU\ZKHUHVDPHVH[ couples could be pronounced legally married. Since then, over a dozen other polities have followed suit, including South Africa, where same-sex marriages became legal in 2006. ,Q WKH VSHFL¿F FRQWH[WRI6RXWK$IULFDZKHUH HTXDOLW\RQ WKHEDVLV RI µVH[XDO

orientation’ has been enshrined in the constitution since the end of apartheid (Act 108 of 1996), the legalisation of same-sex marriages has been interpreted as ‘a test for the post-apartheid state’s recognition of lesbian and gay citizens as full members of the polity’ (Reddy and Cakata 2008: 275). Whilst issues of ‘sexual citizenship’ (Bell and Binnie 2000) clearly lie at the very heart of the South African Civil Union Act, what is seldom mentioned are the economic implications of this legal reform. Not only has the state recognition of same-sex marital status created a fresh local market segment for the wedding industry in terms of South African citizens wishing to get married, it has also served as a catalyst for South African tourism, attracting new constituencies of global wedding travellers under the auspices of a liberal law. As a result, there is a growing wedding planning business that capitalises – quite literally – on pink currencies of different provenances by offering to help arrange same-sex wedding ceremonies on South African soil.