Australia says YES to marriage equality – legislation to come

OMG – well, I foresee weddings on Qantas planes.

For non-Australians who haven’t caught up:

The Australian Parliament – instead of making an actual decision decided to hold a voluntary, non-binding, postal plebiscite (we have compulsory voting here, so being voluntary is a ‘thing’) on marriage equality.

The question was:

‘Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?’

The answer has just been announced, and the answer is:

‘YES’

Nearly 80% of eligible Australian voters participated, and the ‘Yes’ vote commanded 61.6% of the vote. Out of 150 electoral districts – 133 voted ‘YES’.

Qantas, amongst a range of other large business organisations supported the ‘YES’ campaign. It also happens to be led by a gay CEO, Alan Joyce.

Although we are all a bit deliriously happy here at 2PAXfly – and In Australia in general – there is still a lot of work to do, to make this vote into a legislative reality. There are already dark conservative forces conspiring to roll back anti-discrimination laws here so that people can refuse to serve ‘gays’.

If you want to know more, then follow the coverage on the ABC, The Sydney Morning Herald, or Guardian Australia