White wedding offers equality and security
JONATHON Condron and Aden Hemmerling have their wedding all planned out - what they’re waiting for is a ‘yes’.
The couple from Jan Juc, Victoria, have been together for about a decade and have been engaged for four years.
They plan to tie the knot as soon as same-sex marriage is legal in Australia.
“Jono popped the question,” Hemmerling, 36, said. “If it was Jono’s choice, it (their wedding) would be tomorrow.”
Condron, 35, said he was eager for same-sex marriage to be legalised as it meant the couple would “be treated the same as everyone else”.
“I’ll be able to declare my love in front of everyone and be legally recognised, with the same rights.”
Both men work as support co-ordinators in the same mental health organisation in Geelong.
They met 10 years ago at a bar in Wodonga.
“We’re getting married on the beach in Jan Juc,” Condron said, with a reception planned at Torquay Surf Lifesaving Club.
They’ll set a date soon and want all their guests to walk barefoot on the beach.
“And we want everyone wearing white because there’s no white wedding dress,” Condron added.
Hemmerling said he felt “almost like we already are married, so I guess it (a wedding) is more about the legalities of it”.
“Knowing that we have that security ... it’s around the equality aspect of it.
“The Yes campaign has shown the LGBTI community that there is a lot of support in relation to sexuality. Everyone should have the right to feel equal.”
And his thoughts on their future nuptials?
“I think it would be not a huge ... wedding,” he said, just close family, friends and colleagues. “It will be an awesome wedding.”