Same Sex Marriage Legalized in Australia

December 9, 2017, marked a historic day not only in Australia, but around the world. Despite being ranked as one of the most accepting countries in the world by the Pew Research Center in 2013, homosexuality was banned in parts of Australia until 1997. However, these decisions were recently overturned and same-sex couples are now to be legally recognized in all of Australia. The path to equality down under has been an interesting one.

The Marriage Act was introduced in Australia in 1961, in which it briefly defines marriage as, “the union of two people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.” There were many homophobic laws kept in place from the time of British rule over Australia and began to be repealed from 1975 to 1997. However, these legal decisions were made on behalf of the various states and territories within Australia as opposed to the country as a whole. This is why anti-LGBT laws remained in place despite progressive decisions being made in other parts of the country.

In 2013, Australia passed a federal law that protected all LGBTQ+ individuals from discrimination based off gender identity and sexual orientation. Throughout the 2000’s there were laws put in place that granted various domestic rights to same-sex couples, such as the taxing process and residency permits. However, same-sex couples were still not fully recognized through marriage. They were known as de facto relationships, and there are distinct differences between those and heterosexual marriages, as well as the moral belief that homosexual relationships are undeserving of marriage.

Ever since September 2004, Parliament has tried numerous times to legalize same-sex marriage in Australia. They’ve tried 22 different times, to be exact. They’ve also failed 22 times, and the High Court stated that the law had to be proposed by the Commonwealth of Australia. The law was put to a vote from the people of Australia in a voluntary postal survey, in which 61.6% of citizens voted that they support same-sex marriage. There was a four day debate held in the House of Representatives, which involved numerous emotional speeches supporting the passing of the law and even a marriage proposal by gay Parliament member Tim Wilson. After this, the law went to vote at Parliament; and, consequently, a unanimous vote in favor of the bill with only four votes against it.

Now, gay couples can be legally married in Australia, and same-sex couples wed in other countries are legally recognized. They’ll be receiving the same rights granted to heterosexual couples, and the country as a whole has taken one giant step towards reaching true equality for all. After it was announced that the bill had passed, Parliament members chanted lyrics to the song, “I Am Australian,” proudly singing in unison, “We are one, but we are many.”