It’s over to pollies
celebration of our love and commitment towards each other,” Ms George said.
Ms Ferguson proposed on Christmas Eve last year after enjoying a four-year courtship with Ms George and meeting her on social media dating app Tinder.
“Politicians now have a job to do and they’ve waited too long and put the LGBTI community through too much as it is.
“We’re not delaying our lives because Parliament can’t make a decision,” Ms George said. GLENN Sorensen has worn a wedding band on his ring finger since 2010, when he married his long-term boyfriend Mark in a “lonely” wedding in Sweden.
Yesterday, the two 45-yearold plumbers knocked off work early to celebrate the result of Australia’s same-sex marriage postal survey — where 61.6 per cent of respondents voted in favour of legalising same sex marriage.
“It was a bit of an emotional overload really, it was quite overwhelming,” Glenn said when asked about his reaction to hearing the result.
“It will be nice for the ring on my finger to actually mean something in the law of Australia.
“Today is another step. Mark and I have been together for 17 years, that’s a 17-year engagement. So, we’re patient. We really hope that the pollies now take a good look at this and say ‘ right, let’s not stuff around’.”
Geelong overwhelmingly voted “yes” in favour of samesex marriage, with 71.6 per cent of Corangamite respondents voting “yes” and 67.7 of Corio voters doing the same — compared to the Victorian result of 64.9 per cent.
“The figures are amazing,” Glenn said. “It may have been a difficult process, but it’s a beautiful feeling to know that two-thirds of Australia is behind this . . . there’s lots of positives to take out of it.”
Almost 13 million Australians — about 80 per cent of eligible voters — participated in the voluntary survey, with turnouts in Corio (83.6 per cent) and Corangamite (85.1 per cent) even higher.
“This high response rate far exceeds expectations and compares extremely favourably with other voluntary exercises conducted around the world thanks to the strong interest and engagement of eligible Australians in this topic,” Australia’s chief statistician David Kalisch said.
A Geelong “Say Yes” results event at North Geelong cafe Bear and Scoobs was standing room only yesterday, and celebrations were expected to last long into the night at the Piano Bar’s result party.
Geelong Rainbow Inc vice president Sarah Hathway said she was very proud of Geelong’s support of same-sex marriage.
“I think the whole way through this campaign the response that we’ve got has really surprised us in a positive way,” Ms Hathway said.
“A lot of people are saying they just feel more accepted in their community now.”
Corio federal Labor MP Richard Marles said the result was a great day for Australia.
“Our country, our community, is at its best when we embrace diversity, embrace people who are different than ourselves, and embrace the lives they lead as being valid and meaningful and important,” Mr Marles said.
“This is a proud day for everyone who stood up and said that love is love. It’s time GLENN SORENSEN, pictured with partner Mark Bennett we took the clear message from the Australian people and make that law.”
Corangamite federal Liberal MP Sarah Henderson also welcomed the “decisive result”, but said a Private Member’s Bill to change the Marriage Act to allow same-sex couples to marry had to include protection for religious groups.
“As the definition of civil marriage changes, religious freedom is paramount,” Ms Henderson said. “Religious institutions must be able to continue to adhere to their beliefs. That said, the Bill must not allow discrimination against same-sex couples including in relation to the provision of commercial services.”
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said it was now up to Parliament to “get on with it” and legalise same-sex marriage before Christmas.
Debate on two same sex marriage bills is set to begin in the Senate today.
The Senate wants a final bill to pass by November 30, sending it to the House of Representatives for approval.