Australia legalize same sex marriage
Marriage equality law passes Australia's parliament in landslide vote
Australia’s parliament has legislated for marriage equality, passing a bill almost unanimouslyto permit two people, regardless of sex, to marry.
On Thursday the Property of Representatives passed a cross-party bill after an unprecedented national postal survey gave unstoppable momentum to legislate the historic social reform.
Australia, which changed the law in to say that marriage is only between a gentleman and a woman, now becomes the 25th country to recognise same-sex marriage.
The lower house passed marriage equality with almost all members of the governing Liberal-National Coalition joining Labor, the Greens, and crossbench MPs in a free vote to pass the bill which cleared the Senate last week without amendment.
The only no votes were Coalition MPs Russell Broadbent, Keith Pitt, David Littleproud and independent MP Bob Katter.
The speaker of the Dwelling of Representatives, Tony Smith, declared the vote carried, since fewer than five MPs opposed it, triggering a standing ovation from the parliamentarians an
Marriage Equality Around the World
The Human Rights Campaign tracks developments in the legal recognition of same-sex marriage around the world. Working through a worldwide network of HRC global alumni and partners, we lift up the voices of community, national and regional advocates and disseminate tools, resources, and lessons learned to empower movements for marriage equality.
Current State of Marriage Equality
There are currently 38 countries where same-sex marriage is legal: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Uruguay.
These countries have legalized marriage equality through both legislation and court decisions.
Countries that Legalized Marriage Equality in
Liechtenstein: On May 16, , Liechtenstein's gove
Same-sex marriage bill clears Australia's Senate
SYDNEY - Australia’s upper house Senate on Wednesday passed a measure to legalize same-sex marriage, perhaps as soon as next week, after lawmakers dismissed a conservative push to allow religious objectors to refuse service to same-sex couples.
Australians overwhelmingly endorsed legalizing same-sex marriage in a postal survey run by the national statistics agency and the bill easily passed the Senate by 43 votes to
Conservative lawmakers had pressed for broad protections for religious objectors, among them florists, bakers and musicians, to reject service to same-sex couples.
But amendments for lay celebrants to resist to solemnize same-sex marriages and permitting caterers opposed to the unions to refuse service at wedding receptions were either defeated or abandoned during two days of debate in the senate, where same-sex marriage supporters are in the majority.
“The Australian people voted to lessen discrimination, not to extend it and we, the senate, have respected that vote by rejecting amendments which sought to ext
NATIONAL RESULTS
Response
Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?
Of the eligible Australians who expressed a view on this question, the majority indicated that the law should be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry, with 7,, (%) responding Yes and 4,, (%) responding No. Nearly 8 out of 10 eligible Australians (%) expressed their view.
All states and territories recorded a majority Yes response. of the Federal Electoral Divisions recorded a majority Yes response, and 17 of the Federal Electoral Divisions recorded a majority No response.
Further information on response and participation within each state and territory is free through the menu.
| State/Territory | Yes | No | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| no. | Yes % | no. | No % | no. | % | |
| New South Wales | 2,, | 1,, | 4,, | |||
| Victoria | 2,, | 1,, | 3,, | |||
| Queensland | 1,, | , | 2,, | |||
| South Australia | , | , | , | |||
| Western Australia | , | , | 1,, | |||
| Tasmania | , | , | , | |||
| Northern Territory(a) | 48, | 31, | 80, | |||
| Australian Capital Territory(b) | , | 61, | , | |||
| Australia (Total) | ||||||