Hey guys. I know this is a simple question that I should really know the answer to, but I don't, so I'm going to ask What are the marriage rights of homo-gays in Australia? Like, can we have civil unions/partnerships, or full blown marriages or neither etc etc. I pretty sure we don't have full marriage license (Boooo... ), but what rights do we get currently? Thanks for anyone who can help Dave
I think currently have no rights concerning marriage and now the governmetnt and opposition as well as family first want to amend the constitution to ban gay marraige and state that marraige is between a man and a woman and at the same time they also want to ban gay adoption. From what i am aware of regarding civil unions um some marriage celebatrants do them but they arent recogognised by the government so you are still regardred as being single in everything from medical stuff to tax return. Its pretty shity
I had a post ready to go last night but then I got a power blackout before I got the chance to post it. I wasn't very impressed, let me assure you. I was working on an essay for uni due today at the time. :dry: But that's enough of my rant. The following article should tell you everything you want to know: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_unions_in_Australia Rights for same-sex couples vary from state to state. However, there are no civil unions in any state, and the passing of the Marriage Amendment Act 2004 amended the Marriage Act 1961 to define marriage as being "between a man and a woman". Despite this, it is legal for marriage celebrants to perform commitment ceremonies for same-sex couples, but these are not recognised as legal marriages. Does that help?
We have a "same-sex couples register" in a few states but personally I reckon it's a crock of $#!7. Like, you get to adopt and stuff but we barely get any rights here in terms of marriage and stuff. >_< Something like 56% of Australians (it'll be a LOT higher for the states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland) support same-sex marriage. It's doubtful we'll ever see some good rights down under for many years to come, seeing as Kevin Rudd doesn't believe in civil unions and stuff for same-sex couples. I'm hoping that when the states elect new Premiers they may give some better rights at a state-level, but same-sex marriage wouldn't happen down under for ages seeing as in 2004 John Howard had a little field day with our rights..