This is another major milestone in Australian history!
The Australian House of Representatives passed the same-sex marriage legalization bill at 6pm today (December 7, 2017).
Australia has officially become the 26th country (and region) to legalize same-sex marriage in the world, with no suspense of 4 votes in favour of VS.
Early this morning, many people who support same-sex marriage have been waiting outside the Capitol to celebrate this historic moment.
December 7, 2017, this day will also be written in Australian history!
It opens a new chapter: homosexuality can be legally married in Australia!
Earlier, November 29, 2017-the Australian Senate passed the Senate vote by a landslide victory of 43-Yes VS 12-No.
On November 15, 2017, the results of Australia`s months-long referendum were officially announced: 61.6% of the votes voted for Yes,38.4% and No. In other words, Australia more than 7 million people, the majority of voters chose to support same-sex marriage.
Let`s take a look at the main points of this landmark same-sex marriage bill:
The definition of marriage in the bill changed from "the union of a man and a woman" to "the union of two people", which means that as long as two people are in love, they can get married legally.
In addition, the current marriage law does not recognize same-sex couples married abroad, but the new law repeals this provision, and same-sex marriages registered abroad will automatically be recognized in Australia. There is no need to prepare any other written documents or perform other procedures.
At the same time, the Act also protects the religious beliefs of others and their views on marriage, which provides that:
- A priest has the right to refuse to marry same-sex couples;
- Churches or other religious organizations also have the right to deny same-sex couples access to their venues for marriage;
- A person who had previously been a marriage registrar, (civil celebrant), had the right to refuse to register a marriage for same-sex couples, but a new marriage registrar could not refuse;
- There is no mention of the freedom of speech in the bill. A member of the Legislative Council has proposed to amend it so that people can freely express their traditional views on marriage without worrying about any legal problems, but the proposal has been rejected. Because other laws already have related provisions. In fact, all amendments to the bill were rejected.
The bill will come into force early next year after the acquisition of the Royal (Royal assent, and Australian media have predicted that the date will be January 8, 2018 at the earliest!
So far, the debate on legalization of same-sex marriage has come to an end in the past six months.
Legalization of same-sex marriage
On Aug. 8, Australian Prime Minister Tam Po announced that he had spent A $ one hundred and twenty one million nine hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine to investigate the legalization of same-sex marriage by non-mandatory mailing of (postal vote).
Since then, the Australian people have registered to vote, the total number of more than 16 million people, the final vote of nearly 12.73 million people! You should know that Australia has just surveyed the total population of only 23.4 million, equal to half of the people participated in the vote, or all citizens, the proportion of citizens participation is as high as 79. 9%! That`s more than the number of people voting in the US or Brexit, and it`s the highest ever in Australia.
On November 15th of this year, the results of the referendum were officially announced: 61.6% of the votes voted for Yes,38.4%, and 61.6% for No.. In other words, most people choose to support same-sex marriage.
State support came out, and Victoria was the state with the highest rate of support for Yes after the leader`s land.
After that, Liberal Senator Dean Smith submitted a bill to Congress to legalize same-sex marriage.
On Nov. 29, the bill was passed in the Senate by 43 votes to 12 without any changes. Senator Huang Yingxian of the Chinese-American Labour Party, (Penny Wong), was also the first lesbian lawmaker to come out of the Australian political party`s history, leaving tears of excitement.
Since then, the same-sex marriage bill, which entered the House of Representatives for a final vote, has also been passed into law.
There was also an episode: on Monday, when the House of Representatives discussed the same-sex marriage bill, Tim Wilson, a male member of the Unionparty, took the opportunity to propose to the audience`s same-sexcouples Ryan Patrick Bolger, who was excited to answer "YES". This particular proposal will also be written in the records of the Australian Parliament and recorded in history!
Left Ryan Patrick Bolger, right Tim Wilson.
This is really a big turnaround-
Previously, in the marriage law enacted by Australia in 1961, gender was not specified. In 2004, then Prime Minister Howard officially legislated to prohibit same-sex marriage, including the marriage of a man and a woman. In this year`s referendum, he also came forward to make his No stand clear, and called on his people to ask for say no..
"if a referendum on same-sex marriage is passed, the changes in Australia`s social fabric will have a wider impact. It will have a significant impact and impact on the fundamental rights of other citizens. "
"the main reason for the objection is. There is more evidence that it is generally better for children to grow up with their biological parents. "
-Howard
In 2007, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and later Gillard goverment both opposed the legalization of same-sex marriage, although their own attitudes towards same-sex relationships were inclusive. In 2013, Rudd announced his support for same-sex marriage.
"Australia should make its own mature definition of marriage, rather than simply follow the church`s position."
-Kevin Rudd
And in the course of development over the years, a survey by IMU shows that the proportion of Australian people with Say Yes has increased significantly in the last decade, both men and women. The 2016 census shows that Australia has more than 46800 gay couples, an increase of 81% over the 10 years. The percentage of Australia`s population is 0.38%!
Now in Tam Po goverment, Australia has made this historic change, I wonder if it is the result of the rolling wheel of history?!
The Chinese community is rare and active
In this political event, which witnessed Australian history, the Chinese community has been extremely active from beginning to end. Since the announcement of the referendum, the various social app groups have been engaged in heated discussions:
Opponents of same-sex marriage have also come forward:
It was also taught how to modify the voting results:
After the results of the November 15 vote were announced, the commentary area blew up the pot.
However, whether you support it or oppose it, the legalization of same-sex marriage has become a definite fact, and Australia`s history will change from now on!
Same-sex marriage is politically correct
In fact, support for same-sex marriage seems to have become politically correct in the West over the years. Many stars have come forward to support same-sex marriage, including many Australian stars, such as:
Melbourne-born Hollywood actress Kate Blanchett (Cate Blanchett)
Melbourne-born Chris Hemsworth (Chris Hemsworth)
Uncle Wolf, Jackman, (Hugh Jackman).
Miranda Cole.
Nicole Kidman (Nicole Kidman), a dual national of the United States and Australia
Australian actress Margot Robbie (Margot Robbie), who starred in the Wolf of Wall Street
Melbourne-born Australian singer and actor Kylie Minogue
Many countries have enacted laws that allow same-sex marriage.
Before Australia, more than 25 countries and regions allowed same-sex marriage. We are familiar with the following:
- Netherlands (first in 2001)
- Canada (2005)
- Neighbor New Zealand (2013)
- United States (2015)
- Germany (2017)
Some of the legal areas we are familiar with:
- England, Wales, Scotland (2014)
- There is also what we are most familiar with: Taiwan, China (effective by 2019 at the latest)
Today, just before the Australian news was confirmed, Austria had recognized same-sex marriage one step ahead of Australia, and the country`s constitution court had declared that the country`s same-sexcouples could legally register marriages from 2019.
Now Australia is one of them. In any case, we have witnessed Australia`s historic moment.
Next, you may see more of the news:
Sydney-based government has previously announced that once the same-sex wedding is legalized, it will provide a free venue for same-sexcouples. The town hall`s Town Hall. is included in the free wedding venue provided by the city council.
This year`s New year`s Eve, the cascade of Rainbow Falls over Sydney Harbour Bridge will be part of the celebration, as 1 billion people around the world see rainbow fireworks blooming at Australian landmarks.
This will be a more colorful, equal, inclusive Australia!
