Gay marriage made legal in Australia
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s prime minister rushed gay marriage into law on Friday by gaining a final signature on a bill hours after it was overwhelming endorsed by Parliament and as the nation started planning weddings that can take place in a month.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull travelled to Government House, where Gov. Gen. Peter Cosgrove signed the bill into law on behalf of the Queen, Australia’s constitutional head of state.
Cosgrove’s signature makes gay marriage legal in Australia from Saturday, when same-sex couples who wed overseas — including in Canada — will be recognized under Australian law as married couples.
Engaged couples will need to give a calendar-month notice of an intention to marry, making gay weddings legal as of Jan. 9, Turnbull said.
Turnbull described Parliament voting late Thursday for gay marriage, with only four lawmakers registering their opposition, as a historic moment.
“Containing my emotions to a suitable, prime ministerial level of calm is quite challenging. I am absolutely pumped. I think this is so wonderful,” he said after Parliament passed the bill and the public gallery erupted with a standing ovation.
Celebrations continued late into the night in Oxford Street, the centre of Sydney’s gay nightlife which is in Turnbull’s electorate.
Turnbull has been a long-term advocate for marriage equality and is the first prime minister to attend Sydney’s annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
Hours after Parliament legalized gay marriage, a Sydney municipal council offered free venues to host same-sex marriages. The Inner West Council is accepting bookings for same-sex marriages in its halls, community centres and parks at no charge over a 100-day period from Jan. 7.
“This is an historic day in the struggle for civil rights in Australia,” Mayor Darcy Byrne said.
Gay marriage was endorsed by 62 per cent of voters who responded to a national postal ballot by November.
Most gay-rights advocates believed the government should have allowed marriages years ago and saw various ideas for a public survey as a delaying tactic.
The UN Human Rights Committee had called the ballot survey “an unnecessary and divisive public opinion poll.”