Former archbishop Desmond Tutus daughter marries lesbian lover

The daughter of Nobel laureate and former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, married her longtime lesbian lover Prof. Marceline van Furth in a small private ceremony held in Netherlands last Wednesday, December 30.

Rev. Mpho Tutu, 51, who was previously married to US journalist Joseph Burris and has two daughters, is herself an ordained Episcopal priest and also the executive director and founder of the Tutu Institute for Prayer and Pilgrimage. She is also the author of the book Made for Goodness.

In May, 2015, Rev. Tutu was accused of “hijacking” the Desmond Tutu Peace Trust, which had to be shut down to avoid humiliating the retired archbishop, according to reports.

“We decided to just wind up the organization without embarrassing the archbishop,” said Saki Macozoma, a member of the board of the trust. “I really don’t want to talk about that woman’s behavior.”

Prof. Furth is a South African HIV/AIDS activist, who campaigns against poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia. She teaches at the Vrije University Medical Center in Amsterdam in the area of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.

She has an MBA in Health Care and is Desmond Tutu Chair Holder on Diversity.

Retired Archbishop Tutu has been a forthright advocate of same-sex marriage and has called the oppression of gay people around the world the “new Apartheid.”

It would be remembered in 2013; Tutu famously said he would never worship a “homophobic God” and will rather go to hell. His daughter’s lesbianism at that time however, was not publicly known.

“I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place,” Archbishop Tutu said at the launch of the Free and Equal campaign in Cape Town.

“I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this,” he said.

“I am as passionate about this campaign as I ever was about apartheid. For me, it is at the same level,” he added.

Most recently Mpho Tutu presided over her parents as they retook their vows after sixty years of marriage.

The Tutu family released a short statement, according to Gay Star News, that read: “The couple are very grateful to their families and friends for their love and support.”

The couple is planning a larger public marriage ceremony for May, 2016.