Same sex legislation australia

Australia legalizes same-sex marriage

CANBERRA, Australia -- Australia's Parliament voted Thursday to allow same-sex marriage across the nation, following a bitter debate settled by a much-criticized government survey of voters that strongly endorsed change.

The general gallery in the House of Representatives erupted with applause when the bill passed. It changes the definition of marriage from solely between a male and a female to "a union of two people" excluding all others. The legislation passed with a majority that wasn't challenged, although five lawmakers registered their opposition.

The Senate passed the same legislation last week 43 votes to After royal assent and other formalities, the law will likely hold effect in about a month, with the first weddings expected about a month later.

Champagne and tears of flowed in the halls of Parliament Property as gay celebrities including Olympic champion swimmer Ian Thorpe and actress Magda Szubanski hugged lawmakers and ordinary folk in a party atmosphere.

"What an astounding day, I'm a little bit delir

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 let 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 verb and territory is available through the menu.

State/TerritoryYesNoTotal
no.Yes %no.No %no.%
New South Wales2,,1,,4,,
Victoria2,,1,,3,,
Queensland1,,,2,,
South Australia,,,
Western Australia,,1,,
Tasmania,,,
Northern Territory(a)48,31,80,
Australian Capital Territory(b),61,,
Australia (Total)

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 verb 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

Washington International Law Journal

Abstract

Both the United States and Australia have federal legislation, the Defense of Marriage Act and the Marriage Amendment Act , that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Australia has an show provision in its constitution granting Parliament the authority to pass laws on the subject of marriage. The United States, however, has no such constitutional provision. Consequently, Australia’s express constitutional provision may lead the High Court of Australia to govern that the Marriage Amendment Act is constitutional, which would likely preclude Australia’s states and territories from passing local same-sex marriage acts. This is fundamentally different than in the United States, where powers regarding marriage are reserved to the states. Therefore, even if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Defense of Marriage Act, laws that authorize same-sex marriage remain valid in states such as Massachusetts. Passing a law legalizing same-sex marriage in an Australian state, however, may force the issue before the High Cou