Tag: Australia

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News Round-Up: April 9, 2018

(via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Fitness model Quin Bruce reminds me of the classic Mamas & Papas song: “Monday, Monday, so good to me.”

• Out actor Colton Haynes will return for Season 7 of The CW’s ARROW as a series regular again.

• Jimmy Kimmel has apologized for using gay jokes in his ongoing online feud with Sean Hannity.

• Even conservative pollster Frank Luntz says the GOP is in “deep trouble” and could very well lose both the House and the Senate in the 2018 fall mid-term elections.

• A dad’s request to see his son’s “boy toy” boyfriend went viral for all the right reasons.

• A gay man in Melbourne, Australia, was the victim of a brutal homophobic attack by three men after leaving unconscious and unable to open his eye for three weeks.

• That hilarious time that Fox News accidentally posted a graphic with poll results showing them to be the “least-trusted” news network on the air. “That’s the not the graphic we’re looking for. Hold off. Take that down, please.” #oops

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New iPhone X Ad Celebrates Marriage Equality In Australia – “First Dance”

After a long, long journey to marriage equality (that included an official mail-in survey of the entire nation showing over 60% approval), same-sex weddings have begun in Australia.

And in a nod to the idea that the best camera is the one you have on you, Apple has created a new ad featuring those most romantic of wedding moments – a couple’s first dance – captured at LGBTQ weddings that were shot entirely on iPhone Xs.

Watch the very sweet spot, titled “First Dance,” below.

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Former Australian Prime Minister (And Marriage EqualityFoe) Attends Sister’s Same-Sex Wedding

(image via Instagram)

Just weeks after Australia legalized same-sex marriage, former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott attended the wedding of his sister Christine Forster to girlfriend Virginia Flitcroft.

Abbott told the media as he traveled to Sydney for the ceremony, “I’m looking forward to having a new sister-in-law.”

Sweet sentiments, but a change in tone as Abbott had opposed marriage equality all the way up to the recent “vote-by-mail” survey of the entire country on the subject.

“However deeply affectionate or long lasting it may be, the relationship between two people of the same sex cannot be a marriage because a marriage, by definition, is between a man and a woman,” said Abbott during the nationwide debate. “Let’s celebrate all strong relationships, whether they are between a man and a woman or between people of the same sex—but let’s be careful about describing every lasting sexual bond as a ’marriage’.”

Abbott refused to allow a vote in Parliament on the issue while in power, but did say the question should be put to a national referendum.

The result of the survey? Sixty-two percent of Australians said yes to equal marriage, and Parliament overwhelmingly followed suit December. The first same-sex weddings began January 9.

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Same-Sex Marriage Officially Begins In Australia

Ring them bells! Same-sex couples began to legally marry in Australia on Tuesday.

Back in November, over 60% of Australians who responded to a non-binding postal plebiscite said “yes” to marriage equality.

Less than 3 weeks later, the Australian Senate voted “yes,” and on December 7 the House of Representatives agreed in a lopsided, nearly unanimous vote.

In Australia, there is a required 30 day waiting period once an application to marry has been made. A few couples were given special permission to wed early due to unusual circumstances.

Australia is now the 26th country to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

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Australia Rings In The New Year With Rainbow-Colored Fireworks In Honor Of Marriage Equality

Rainbow-colored fireworks at Sydney's New Years celebration

Australia rang in the new year with an estimated 1.5 million attending the awesome fireworks show over Sydney harbor.

This year’s show included a section with rainbow-colored fireworks in honor of the recently passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage.

Although a few couples received special permission to wed early, the official start date for marriage equality down under is January 8.

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First Same-Sex Weddings Take Place In Australia

Amy Laker and Lauren Price

History was made today in Australia as the first same-sex marriage, between Lauren Price and Amy Laker, took place in Sydney.

The couple had been planning a commitment ceremony on the date for a long time. But with Ms. Price’s family having already traveled from Wales in the UK and the recent legalization of same-sex marriage, the couple asked for special permission to marry before the new law is to take effect next month.

Another couple, Amy and Elise McDonald, surprised their 60 guests gathered for a commitment ceremony with marriage vows today as well.

Originally planned as a commitment ceremony, the couple realized they qualified for an exemption from the waiting period on financial grounds in that McDonald’s family had traveled from Asia and the United Arab Emirates for the ceremony.

Watch the TV coverage below.

Congrats to the happy couple! And to Australia!

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Australia: Same-Sex Marriages To Begin January 9, 2018

After a vastly lop-sided “Yes” vote for same-sex marriage in Australia’s Parliament, the legislation has been signed and LGBT Aussies will be able to marry within 30 days.

From ABC News:

Australia’s prime minister rushed gay marriage into law on Friday by gaining a final signature on a bill hours after it was overwhelming endorsed by Parliament and as the nation started planning weddings that can take place in a month.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull traveled to Government House where Governor-General Peter Cosgrove signed the bill into law on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II, Australia’s constitutional head of state.

Cosgrove’s signature makes gay marriage legal in Australia from Saturday, when same-sex couples who wed overseas will be recognized as married under Australian law. Couples who intend to marry must give a calendar-month notice, making gay weddings legal on Jan. 9, Turnbull said.

Let’s relive that awesome moment one more time 🙂

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Anti-Same-Sex Marriage Couple Renege On Divorcing On Passage Of Marriage Equality

I’ve posted in the past about a married couple of haters in Australia who “threatened” to divorce should marriage equality come to the land “down under.”

Back in June 2015, Nick and Sarah Jensen of Canberra swore to divorce in protest if the government legalized same-sex marriage.

It will come as no surprise the threat was an empty one as Parliament has resoundingly approved marriage equality.

From The Daily Mail:

And after Parliament finally passed the law to cheers on Thursday afternoon, Mr Jensen announced his position in a statement to Daily Mail Australia. “My previous public comments regarding civil divorce never envisaged me separating from my wife, but rather our marriage from the State,” he wrote.

“The legislation currently makes it untenable for us to do this under the law. The point we were highlighting and that still stands however is the fact that a redefinition of marriage changes the agreement under which we were originally married. We will be making no further comment.”

Here’s Nick Jansen’s statement from 2015:

“My wife and I just celebrated our 10-year anniversary. But later this year, we may be getting a divorce. The decision to divorce is not one we’ve taken lightly. And certainly, it’s not one that many will readily understand. And that’s because it’s not a traditional divorce. Our view is that marriage is a fundamental order of creation. Part of God’s human history. Marriage is the union of a man and a woman before a community in the sight of God. And marriage of any couple is important to God regardless of whether that couple recognises God’s involvement or authority in it.” 

(h/t JoeMyGod) 

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Australia Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

Australia’s House of Representatives has legalized same-sex marriage by a wide margin.

Only four MPs voted no to make marriage equality the law of the land.

The Senate had already approved the legislation last week by a vote of 43-12.

After the Governor-General gives the legislation official approval in a formality known as “Royal Assent,” marriage equality will become the law of the land. Australia will become the 25th country to recognize same-sex couples’ right to marry.

Congratulations, Australia!

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Australian Lawmaker Proposes To His Partner During Same-Sex Marriage Debate In Parliament

It was an emotional moment when Tim Wilson, a member of Australia’s House of Representatives, addressed fellow lawmakers about the impending vote to legalize same-sex marriage.

“In my first speech I defined our bond by the ring that sits on both of our left hands, and they are the answer to a question we cannot ask,” Wilson said as his partner of seven years, Ryan Bolger, watched from the public gallery.

“There’s only one thing left to do: Ryan Patrick Bolger, will you marry me?” Wilson continued.

Bolger, a primary school teacher, smiled broadly and immediately answered, “yes.”

And the crowd goes wild.

After the legislation sailed through the Senate last week, the House is expected to vote later this week.

Watch the marriage proposal below.

(source)