BY MARISSA CASTANOS
Citizens all over Australia celebrated after a two-month national postal survey was found to be overwhelmingly in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage. The Australian Bureau of Statistics uncovered that 61% of the population voted to allow same-sex marriage. Melbourne celebrated and showed support by releasing rainbow-colored smoke, confetti, and cheers for the hundreds of people who gathered to hear the result of the survey.
Over 12 million people across the country took part in the survey, with every state and territory voting “yes,” allowing citizens to finally marry the love of their life. This vote is ending the long and painful years of pushing the campaign to allow marriage equality in Australia, something what was already legal in other countries worldwide. Australia’s prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said it had been an “overwhelming” response in favor of yes.
“They voted ‘yes’ for fairness, they voted ‘yes’ for commitment, they voted ‘yes’ for love. And now it is up to us here in the Parliament of Australia to get on with it and get this done before Christmas,” Turnbull mentioned in an interview with various reported in Canberra. “I feel for young people who had their relationships questioned in a way I wouldn’t have thought we would see every again, but nevertheless what this marriage equality survey shows is that unconditional love always has the last word.”
Surprisingly, a large population of Australia’s LGBT+ community were strongly against the idea of the country holding a national vote, as they were fearful of a divisive campaign coming out of it. A group of advocates for same-sex marriage even took their government to Australia’s High Court, trying to end the survey altogether; despite their efforts, the government continued on with the national survey. The campaign did exactly what the advocates feared, it brought on hateful and divisive actions. Rainbow flags around Brisbane were spray painted with Nazi symbols, while advertisements told voters that same-sex marriage would lead to “radical gay sex” education in schools (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-15/eric-abetz-warns-gay-sex-role-play-in-schools-under-ssm/8950952).
This recent vote does not mean that Australia has recently been wanting same-sex marriage equality, Australian citizens have been seeking marriage equality for years, but multiple governments have maintained their position to keeping the traditional law in place. However, in 2015, then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott claimed that a national vote would be held to decide if marriage equality would finally be legalized. Much to his and citizens’ dismay, Abbott was unable to get funding to hold the vote, as Australia’s legislation was blocked two times by the senate. However, the next Prime Minister decided that he would also announce a vote, which happened in August 2017. The survey was administered by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which meant that funding did not need to be provided.
Voting for same-sex marriage legalization in Australia began on September 12, and citizens had until November 7 to cast their votes, and politicians are expected to begin discussing the same-sex marriage bill as early as this week. This vote is another step to equality not only in Australia, but all around the world.