The Supreme Court of Appeals will on 23 August 2004 hear the matter of Fourie v Minister of Home Affairs. This case presents a challenge to the common law definition of marriage. According to the common law definition, marriage is a union only between one man and one woman. This makes it impossible for same sex couples to be married to each other. The Equality Project has been admitted as an amicus curiae (friend of the court) in this matter. The Equality Project recognises that the removal of the common law prohibition against marriages between people of the same sex would represent a major advance in the struggle toward securing and equal position for lesbian and gay people in the law and society.