Australia Votes Overwhelmingly Yes For Same Sex Marriage!!

[+ Gar1eth]

Congratulations @mike carey and to your fellow Australians both on and off the Forum. Let’s hope your representatives now do their duty!!

 

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/gay-marriage/australia-decides-live-coverage-of-samesex-marriage-survey/news-story/f03c276c28cc9073fefd92bd9bed7f9d

 

Gman

[mike carey]

@Gar1eth Thanks, such a relief.

[+ Gar1eth]

And if we are going to be honest, y’all put us here in the USA to shame. If my quick perusal of the article is correct, it won resoundingly in all areas of your great country. If it had been put to a vote here, there’s no way we would have achieved results like that.

 

My admiration for the citizens of Australia knows no bounds.

 

Gman

[mike carey]

And if we are going to be honest, y’all put us here in the USA to shame. If my quick perusal of the article is correct, it won resoundingly in all areas of your great country. If it had been put to a vote here, there’s no way we would have achieved results like that.

The yes vote won in every state and territory, and in 133 of the 150 federal electorates. The former PM, a prominent no campaigner, had a 75% yes vote in his conservative electorate. My electorate, a rural one that surrounds Canberra it was 64.9% and in the Australian Capital Territory it was 74%. The total turnout in what was a postal ballot rather than voting in person, was 79.5%.

 

The legislation will be introduced into Parliament this afternoon.

Edited November 16, 2017 by mike carey

[P Gren]

It's too bad it had to go to a referendum and law makers didn't just get on with doing their jobs and pass legislation. One off referendums are usually divisive and counter productive. And ... congratulations - every state, that's great. I guess you've seen the film on the Irish referendum: the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Queen_of_Ireland

[mike carey]

No-one on the yes side wanted the ballot, correctly predicting some nastiness in the campaign, and there was initially talk of a boycott but that evaporated within days (well before the ballots were even sent out). The advantage we now have (and I remember Panti Bliss saying this in interviews here) is that it was the whole country that decided, not 'meddlesome judges' or members of Parliament, so it should be settled now.

Edited November 15, 2017 by mike carey

[Walker1]

Very nice. Here it did not even pass in CA.

[mike carey]

So, on national television, from the Yes celebration in inner Canberra, the gay anchor of the ABC TV evening news bulletin in the ACT interviews the gay Chief Minister about the 74% yes vote in the territory!

[Guest DeepSouthDad53]

So, on national television, from the Yes celebration in inner Canberra, the gay anchor of the ABC TV evening news bulletin in the ACT interviews the gay Chief Minister about the 74% yes vote in the territory!

 

Margaret Court be damned! Congrats, Australia!

[+ Avalon]

And if we are going to be honest, y’all put us here in the USA to shame. If my quick perusal of the article is correct, it won resoundingly in all areas of your great country. If it had been put to a vote here, there’s no way we would have achieved results like that.

 

My admiration for the citizens of Australia knows no bounds.

 

Gman

 

So true! It's a shame here that gay rights have to come from the courts and not the people. All gays want is simple human dignity.

[Brian Kevin]

MARDIGRAS THERE IS JUST GONNA BE EVEN MORE EPIC THIS YEAR ! Congrats !!!!

[P Gren]

The yes vote won in every state and territory, and in 133 of the 150 federal electorates. The former PM, a prominent no campaigner, had a 75% yes vote in his conservative electorate. My electorate, a rural one that surrounds Canberra it was 64.9% and in the Australian Capital Territory it was 74%. The total turnout in what was a postal ballot rather than voting in person, was 79.5%.

 

The legislation will be introduced into Parliament this afternoon.

Was the legislation introduced? What's the local update?

[mike carey]

Was the legislation introduced? What's the local update?

Yes, the legislation was introduced into the Senate on Wednesday and the second reading began on Thursday, the whole day devoted to it. Next sitting week will debate amendments, and even the more conservative ministers are saying that as important as religious freedoms are (or 'might be', I would say), they are a separate issue and should not be included in this bill, it was about one thing. The senator who introduced the Bill and the leader of the opposition in the Senate both spoke movingly about their experiences and the importance of the change, and both received standing ovations from the whole Senate. When it passes the Senate it will go to the House of Representatives, and it is anticipated that the House will not rerun the amendment debates that were run in the Senate. The expectation is that it will pass before Christmas. Senator Dean Smith, who introduced the Bill has said he plans to have a Royal Assent party. The latest speculation is that 15 Dec will be the start date, which given the requirement for 30 days' notice of intention to marry would mean January weddings. The sister of the former (anti-equal marriage) PM, who had planned a 2 Feb wedding at the British Consulate now plans an Australian wedding on the same date.

[P Gren]

Yes, the legislation was introduced into the Senate on Wednesday and the second reading began on Thursday, the whole day devoted to it. Next sitting week will debate amendments, and even the more conservative ministers are saying that as important as religious freedoms are (or 'might be', I would say), they are a separate issue and should not be included in this bill, it was about one thing. The senator who introduced the Bill and the leader of the opposition in the Senate both spoke movingly about their experiences and the importance of the change, and both received standing ovations from the whole Senate. When it passes the Senate it will go to the House of Representatives, and it is anticipated that the House will not rerun the amendment debates that were run in the Senate. The expectation is that it will pass before Christmas. Senator Dean Smith, who introduced the Bill has said he plans to have a Royal Assent party. The latest speculation is that 15 Dec will be the start date, which given the requirement for 30 days' notice of intention to marry would mean January weddings. The sister of the former (anti-equal marriage) PM, who had planned a 2 Feb wedding at the British Consulate now plans an Australian wedding on the same date.

Thanks for the update. Congrats

[mike carey]

Canberra's newly painted roundabout ...

[ATTACH=full]14526[/ATTACH]

[LoveNDino]

So....Mr. @mike carey any plans of getting hitched?

[Stormy]

Congrats to gay couples in the land down under!

[LADoug1]

One more reason to become an expatriate from the US.

[mike carey]

This afternoon the Senate passed the Equal Marriage bill. The vote was 43-12 in the 76 seat chamber (some senators were absent on business or personal leave [one Canberra senator was at the children's hospital in Sydney where her child is undergoing surgery] and had 'pairs' [a agreement under which does not vote]). Some senate positions are vacant, and some abstained. The bill was passed as it had originally been presented to Parliament, with a raft of 'religious freedom' amendments all defeated. The bill will be debated in the House of Representatives next week, as it isn't sitting this week.

[mike carey]

The Equal Marriage bill was introduced into the lower house of Parliament today. One gay government MP in his speech to the house proposed to his partner, who was sitting in the public gallery. News cameras in the house focused on him and you could see him mouth the word 'Yes'. The speaker said, 'Let the Hansard record that the answer was Yes'. (Otherwise it would only have recorded the question.) The theatre of the whole process continues to be absorbing.

[LoveNDino]

The Equal Marriage bill was introduced into the lower house of Parliament today. One gay government MP in his speech to the house proposed to his partner, who was sitting in the public gallery. News cameras in the house focused on him and you could see him mouth the word 'Yes'. The speaker said, 'Let the Hansard record that the answer was Yes'. (Otherwise it would only have recorded the question.) The theatre of the whole process continues to be absorbing.

this...

[mike carey]

Tim Wilson's speech is notable in that it condemns the people on his [conservative] side of politics who spent years trying to prevent equal marriage, and dismisses the specious claims that legalising equal marriage somehow detracts from other people's religious freedom.

[mike carey]

In his Senate speech on the Bill last week, conservative Christian senator Dean Smith noted that his faith was not a platform, it was a refuge. It's a pity more Christians didn't take that view when they make their interventions in the public sphere.

[+ Avalon]

It seems so simple. If a person is against same-sex marriage then don't marry someone of the same sex.

 

Imo what ought to be done is like what is done in so many other countries and only recognize civil marriage. Leave religion in the private sphere.

[+ Axiom2001]

I send a bountiful amount of congratulations to my Aussie friends! ...guess there are a few wedding ceremonies that I'll be attending which will definitely require me to visit the country in which I lived for two wonderful years back in the 70s.