No other local government is considering a motion in favour of same-sex marriage. While recent polls show that a majority of French adults support the law, opposition to the change has been intense. Since the beginning of 2013, several demonstrations against same-sex marriage have taken place in Paris and elsewhere, with sometimes unstable crowds of hundreds of thousands of people. Watch: The moment same-sex marriage became legal in Australia. t.co/m7iFbfEyqp #auspol #SSM #7News pic.twitter.com/0lhZXph8ig Liberal MP Sarah Henderson held back tears, sharing Wednesday night`s story of one of her close gay friends who died months ago and asked her in one of her final conversations to continue pushing for same-sex marriage. Since the Commonwealth introduced the Cth Marriage Act. 1961, the marriage laws in Australia were considered the exclusive power of the Commonwealth. The precise rights of states and territories regarding the creation of same-sex marriage laws on a state basis have been complicated since the Howard administration amended the marriage law in 2004 to define marriage as the exclusive union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. [160] In its December 2013 judgment repealing the ACT`s Same-Sex Marriage Act, the High Court effectively ruled that all laws relating to marriage fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commonwealth and that no state or territory law legalizing same-sex marriage or creating any type of marriage can coincide with the Federal Marriage Act; “the type of marriage provided for in the [marriage] Act is the only type of marriage that can be contracted or recognised in Australia”. [159] Accordingly, the only possible method of legalizing same-sex marriage in Australia is legislation, which has only been passed by the federal Parliament. On 7 January 2017, the Australian Parliament passed legislation allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally.
The adoption came just three weeks after Australians voted 62 per cent to 38 per cent to legalise same-sex marriage in a non-binding national referendum. Along with New Zealand, Australia became the second country in the Asia-Pacific region to legalize same-sex marriage. Despite the support of the major parties, the bill was opposed by sections of the community, human rights groups and some smaller political parties. The Greens opposed the law, calling it the “Marriage Discrimination Act.” Australian Democrats also rejected the bill. Democratic Senator Andrew Bartlett said the legislation devalues his marriage, and Green Senator Bob Brown (himself openly gay[95]) called Howard and the legislation “hateful.” [96] [97] Brown was asked to retract but refused. Bob Brown also described Australia as “pure Australian politics”, with a similar name in reference to the immigration policy of 1901. [97] The government stated that its purpose was to “protect the institution of marriage.” On 14 September 2016, Prime Minister Turnbull introduced the Plebiscite (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill 2016 in the House of Representatives, the law creating the popular vote. Under the terms of the legislation, Australian voters would have to write “yes” or “no” in response to the question “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?” [85] In addition, $15 million of taxpayers` money will be distributed equally to the official “yes” and “no” campaigns. [86] If approved by Parliament, the referendum will be held on February 11, 2017. [87] On October 11, 2016, the Labour opposition announced that it had formally decided to oppose the plebiscite law, meaning it did not have a majority in the Senate and the referendum could not proceed.
[88] The 2016 debate on the 2016 plebiscite (same-sex marriage) bill took place in the House of Representatives from October 11 to 20, 2016,[89] until the government closed debate at second reading and requested a vote. The bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 76 to 67 and went to the Senate. [90] [91] Debate on the bill took place throughout the day and evening of November 7 in the Senate. The bill was defeated in the Senate at second reading by a vote of 33 to 29. [92] [6] [93] Following the Senate results, Premier Turnbull stated that the government “has no intention of taking any further action in this regard.” [94] In Western Australia, the Acts Amendment (Lesbian and Gay Law Reform) Act 2002 eliminated legal discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by incorporating the new definition of “common-law partner” into 62 statutes, regulations and statutes and creating a new family law to recognize same-sex couples as common-law relationships. [154] The history of same-sex marriage in Australia includes its explicit ban by the Howard government in 2004 and its eventual legalization by Parliament in December 2017.