{"id":137309,"date":"2017-12-08T02:19:33","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T07:19:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=137309"},"modified":"2017-12-08T02:19:33","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T07:19:33","slug":"australian-prime-minister-rushes-gay-marriage-into-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/12\/08\/australian-prime-minister-rushes-gay-marriage-into-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian prime minister rushes gay marriage into law"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"FILE:<\/a>
FILE: (Photo: LGBT Movement\/ Facebook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CANBERRA, Australia \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull travelled to Government House where Governor-General Peter Cosgrove signed the bill into law on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II, Australia’s constitutional head of state.<\/p>\n

Cosgrove’s signature makes gay marriage legal in Australia from Saturday, when same-sex couples who wed overseas will be recognized as married under Australian law. Couples who intend to marry must give a calendar-month notice, making gay weddings legal on Jan. 9, Turnbull said.<\/p>\n

Neville Wills, 98, plans to marry his partner of 39 years, Ian Fenwicke, 74, next month.<\/p>\n

Some practical reasons to marry become pressing with age. Relatives have contested wills that left estates to same-sex partners, and gays and lesbians want rights to access and medical consultation when a partner is hospitalized.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason is to have a legal relationship that’s not in any way challenged \u2014 and, of course, we love each other,\u201d Wills said. \u201cWe’ll get the legal relationship straightened out in January. Call it a wedding if you like, I’m not romantic,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Attorney-General’s Department on Friday published online a new form for couples to announce their intention to marry with tick-box options of male, female and \u201cx.\u201d<\/p>\n

The form defines \u201cx\u201d as \u201cindeterminate, intersex or unspecified.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the previous document referred to a \u201cbride\u201d and \u201cbridegroom,\u201d the new form adds the option of \u201cpartner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turnbull described Parliament voting late Thursday for gay marriage, with only four lawmakers registering their opposition, as a historic moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cContaining my emotions to a suitable, prime ministerial level of calm is quite challenging. I am absolutely pumped. I think this is so wonderful,\u201d he said after Parliament passed the bill and the public gallery erupted with a standing ovation.<\/p>\n

Celebrations continued late into the night in Oxford Street, the centre of Sydney’s gay nightlife which is in Turnbull’s electorate.<\/p>\n

Turnbull has been a long-term advocate for marriage equality and is the first prime minister to attend Sydney’s renowned annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, which is also in his electorate.<\/p>\n

Hours after Parliament’s action, a Sydney municipal council offered free venues to host same-sex marriages.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an historic day in the struggle for civil rights in Australia,\u201d Mayor Darcy Byrne said.<\/p>\n

It follows the downtown Sydney municipality’s decision in October to offer free venues for same-sex weddings should they become lawful.<\/p>\n

The Australian Capital Territory government, which administers Canberra, the national capital, introduced its own same-sex marriage law in 2013 that was overturned by the High Court within a week.<\/p>\n

ACT Attorney General Gordon Ramsay said his government would waive the 55 Australian dollar ($41) cost of wedding certificate for any of the 31 same-sex couples whose short-lived marriages were ruled invalid and want to marry again.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a way of being able to acknowledge the difficulties that some of those couples have been through,\u201d Ramsay told Australian Broadcasting Corp.<\/p>\n

Anne-Marie Delahunt, who married her partner Meg Clark in Canberra in 2013, said she would take up the government’s offer when they marry again in February.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was a touching measure from the ACT Government to say that our second marriage certificate will be free,\u201d Delahunt told ABC.<\/p>\n

Gay marriage was endorsed by 62 per cent of voters who responded to a national postal ballot by November.<\/p>\n

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 U.N. Human Rights Committee had called the ballot survey \u201can unnecessary and divisive public opinion poll.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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