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posted by martyb on Saturday November 18 2017, @01:15AM   Printer-friendly
from the changing-tide dept.

Australians have voted 61.6% to approve of same-sex marriage, and the Turnbull-led government has said it would aim to pass legislation by Christmas:

Australians decisively support same-sex marriage

Australians have overwhelmingly voted in favour of legalising same-sex marriage in a historic poll. The non-binding postal vote showed 61.6% of people favour allowing same-sex couples to wed, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. Jubilant supporters have been celebrating in public spaces, waving rainbow flags and singing and dancing.

A bill to change the law was introduced into the Senate late on Wednesday. It will now be debated for amendments. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said his government would aim to pass legislation in parliament by Christmas. "[Australians] have spoken in their millions and they have voted overwhelmingly yes for marriage equality," Mr Turnbull said after the result was announced. "They voted yes for fairness, yes for commitment, yes for love."

The issue only went to a voluntary postal vote after a long and bitter debate about amending Australia's Marriage Act. The result on Wednesday brings an end to what was at times a heated campaign. The vote itself had been criticised by same-sex marriage supporters, many of whom said it was unnecessary when parliament could debate the issue directly.

Related: (U.S.) Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage
One in Three People Globally Think Gay Marriage Should Be Legal
Taiwanese Court Invalidates Ban on Same-Sex Marriage


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 18 2017, @01:12PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 18 2017, @01:12PM (#598644)

    Why should one group be able to dictate to another group, especially on something as personal as marriage?

    When gays marry it's not your personal marriage is it? Are you one of those closet gays? From what I see the closet gays are often the ones objecting the most to gays.

    So using your logic when gays want to marry it's their personal thing so why should a bunch of strangers be allowed to dictate to them whether or not they should be allowed to marry?

    Logically if you really want fewer gays in the world you'd actually encourage more gays to marry gays- that means less of them reproduce. A few would still reproduce, but far fewer than if they were closet gays in "traditional marriages".

    While there might be some merit in having creating a similar legal arrangement for gays that's called something else other than marriage, letting marriage include gay marriage is about the simplest way to achieve most stuff. e.g. instead of changing many lines of legal code, you change fewer lines.

    As a straight guy I don't see what the big fuss is about, why not just let them marry? I'm more concerned about Australia trying to reintroduce the TPP. That's when a bunch of strangers dictate what you can or cannot do.