Australians vote ‘yes’ on same-sex marriage
Rainbow flags fluttered and champagne corks flew into the air amid tears of joy during celebrations across Australia on Wednesday following a resounding “yes” vote in the same-sex marriage postal survey.
Large public gatherings in major cities, including Sydney and Melbourne, saw marriage proposals with people turning up in wedding dresses as the country learned that 61.6 per cent of participants voted for same-sex marriage, reports IANS.
Couples kissed and friends embraced – some in relief and others in jubilation. More than 12.7 million people across the country, or 79.5 per cent of the population, took part in the survey with every state and territory returning a majority “yes”, SBS Australia reported.
Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said it had been an “overwhelming” response and called for same-sex marriage to be legalised before Christmas.
“They voted ‘yes’ for fairness, they voted ‘yes’ for commitment, they voted ‘yes’ for love. And now it is up to us here in the Parliament of Australia to get on with it,” he told reporters in Canberra.
The results released earlier in the day by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that 38 per cent voted against samesex marriage. Voting had opened on September 12 and Australians who had registered to vote had until November 7 to return their surveys.
In Melbourne, 5,000 people outside the State Library of Victoria cheered and danced to Kylie Minogue’s “Celebration”. In Sydney’s Prince Alfred Park, musician John Paul Young sang “Love is in the Air”.