Gay marriage activists in push for recognition in Australia
Ivan Hinton has the blessing of his 89-year-old grandmother for his marriage to Christopher Teoh. All he has to do now is convince the Australian Government to recognise their union.The Canberra couple, accompanied by Mr Hinton's grandmother Fay Abbott, were at Parliament House yesterday with 60 other same-sex marriage activists trying to convince federal politicians to support the push for Australia-wide full legal recognition of gay partnerships.
Mr Hinton said he used his meetings with ACT Senator Kate Lundy and Fraser MP Andrew Leigh to impress upon them the importance of full recognition of same-sex marriage rights.
Mr Hinton and Mr Teoh tied the knot in Canada, where their marriage is fully recognised, three years ago, just days after they held a non-legally binding ceremony here in Canberra.
''Our marriage is recognised in Canada and we just celebrated our third anniversary,'' Mr Hinton said. ''It's not just the same legal standing but the same symbolism, the same recognition. And the reason why we chose Canada is because there is no segregation between people of different sexual orientation, so what we participated in was simply a civil wedding.''
Mr Hinton said that the civil unions on offer in the territory were not acceptable to him or his husband.
''We wouldn't participate in what is available here in the ACT,'' Mr Hinton said. ''Even though it was a groundbreaking move by the Legislative Assembly, it wasn't satisfactory for us to participate in something that segregated us from the rest of the citizens of the ACT.''
Spokesman for the Marriage Equality Goes to Canberra campaign Alex Greenwich said that the push for federal recognition of gay relationships was gathering momentum.
He said that the 60 ''ordinary Australians'' at Parliament House yesterday spoke about marriage equality with more than 40 MPs, including cabinet ministers and senior opposition politicians.
Mr Greenwich said he believed that changes to federal laws to allow same-sex marriage would reflect the attitude of the majority of Australians.
''Today we hope to encourage our federal decision-makers to support positive social reform that will change the lives of so many ordinary Australians,'' he said.
The campaigner said that the movement had been buoyed by the support of every state ALP branch except NSW, and the Tasmanian lower house's decision to become the first in Australia to support same-sex marriage.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/
Mr Hinton said he used his meetings with ACT Senator Kate Lundy and Fraser MP Andrew Leigh to impress upon them the importance of full recognition of same-sex marriage rights.
Mr Hinton and Mr Teoh tied the knot in Canada, where their marriage is fully recognised, three years ago, just days after they held a non-legally binding ceremony here in Canberra.
''Our marriage is recognised in Canada and we just celebrated our third anniversary,'' Mr Hinton said. ''It's not just the same legal standing but the same symbolism, the same recognition. And the reason why we chose Canada is because there is no segregation between people of different sexual orientation, so what we participated in was simply a civil wedding.''
Mr Hinton said that the civil unions on offer in the territory were not acceptable to him or his husband.
''We wouldn't participate in what is available here in the ACT,'' Mr Hinton said. ''Even though it was a groundbreaking move by the Legislative Assembly, it wasn't satisfactory for us to participate in something that segregated us from the rest of the citizens of the ACT.''
Spokesman for the Marriage Equality Goes to Canberra campaign Alex Greenwich said that the push for federal recognition of gay relationships was gathering momentum.
He said that the 60 ''ordinary Australians'' at Parliament House yesterday spoke about marriage equality with more than 40 MPs, including cabinet ministers and senior opposition politicians.
Mr Greenwich said he believed that changes to federal laws to allow same-sex marriage would reflect the attitude of the majority of Australians.
''Today we hope to encourage our federal decision-makers to support positive social reform that will change the lives of so many ordinary Australians,'' he said.
The campaigner said that the movement had been buoyed by the support of every state ALP branch except NSW, and the Tasmanian lower house's decision to become the first in Australia to support same-sex marriage.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/
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