Etiket: Marriage Equality

Australia votes in favor of marriage equality

Australia has voted to bring marriage equality Down Under with 61.6% of the vote. While the survey itself is not legally binding, Australia’s prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has vowed the momentum of a YES vote would cause a bill to legalize marriage equality to “sail through” parliament, with a goal of passing marriage equality by the end of the year.

Speaking after the result, Turnbull said it had been an “overwhelming” response in favor of “yes” and called for same-sex marriage to be legalized before Christmas.
“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,” he told reporters in Canberra.
The voluntary postal survey was held between September 12 and November 7, with the results announced today. The postal survey came after years of stalled efforts to bring marriage equality to Australia. After the country’s governing party refused to allow a conscience vote on the issue in parliament, it took the controversial step to introduce this expensive, voluntary postal survey in an attempt to settle the issue. The survey was widely criticized for once again delaying the arrival of marriage equality, but today’s results are clear proof that the majority of Australians want marriage equality to become the law of the land.

“We congratulate Australia’s LGBTQ advocates and allies who worked so hard to ensure a victory in this postal survey,” said Ty Cobb, director of HRC Global. “It’s crucial that loving, committed same-sex couples in Australia have the same rights and protections that come with marriage. We urge the Australian Parliament to take swift action ensuring marriage equality becomes the law of the land.”

Anti-equality politicians and activists in Australia have already launched a plan to distort these results by rallying behind a marriage bill that would override non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ Australians through religious exemptions.

“With the rising tide of anti-LGBTQ laws and crackdowns around the world, citizens of Australia stood up for fairness and equality by supporting the right for everyone to marry the person they love,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President & CEO. “Now it is on the Australian government to heed the will of its people and pass fully equal marriage without exemptions.”

Short URL: http://lgbtweekly.com/?p=84088

Gay Marriage in Malta becomes law of land next Friday

MALTA — Last month, Malta’s parliament voted overwhelmingly to advance a marriage equality bill after the third and final debate on the issue. Malta will become the 23rd country with marriage equality and gay couples can start marrying as of next Friday, when all provisions of the amended Marriage law come into force.

The Times of Malta reported that Parliament approved by an overwhelming majority the changes proposed by the government to the Marriage Act, which replaced references to a mother or father with ‘parent’ and a husband or wife with ‘spouse’.

Nationalist MP Edwin Vassallo was the only dissenting voice, voting against the law and ignoring the party whip.

The government had rejected amendments put forward by the PN to include the gender-neutral terminology alongside references to a mother, father, husband or wife. But the PN parliamentary group still voted in favor of the gender-neutral law to fulfill its own electoral pledge.

Short URL: http://lgbtweekly.com/?p=82327

Marriage equality moves forward in Germany

BERLIN — Today, the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany’s parliament, voted to make marriage equality the law of the land. Once the legislation is approved by Bundesrat, the upper house, – which is expected to be a formality – and signed into law by the president, Germany will become the 22nd country to secure full marriage equality for same-sex couples.

The vote came days after Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled that she was open to changing Germany’s marriage laws to include same-sex couples, prompting a hurried push from opposition lawmakers to pass the so-called marriage-for-all legislation, reported the Huffington Post.

According to the report Merkel’s shift came after she visited a lesbian couple raising eight foster children. She called her dinner with the family “a life-changing experience” and said she realized her party’s arguments against same-sex marriage were no longer valid.

“We welcome the German people into the growing family of nations that ensure loving and committed same-sex couples have the right to marry,” said Ty Cobb, Director of HRC Global. “With the very serious challenges the LGBTQ community continues to face around the world, this is welcome news and an important victory in working to ensure LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society. We congratulate the German advocates who made this historic day possible through their tireless advocacy.”

Although German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, the conservative Christian Democrats, has been historically opposed to marriage equality, many individual legislators within the party do support it. Merkel indicated a possible shift in her viewpoint by opening a path forward for the vote. Her decision to allow the vote followed a move by her coalition partner, the Social Democrats, who announced their continued support for Merkel’s government would be contingent on her backing marriage equality.

Recent polling shows that 66 percent of Germans support full marriage equality. Germany has had same-sex civil unions since 2001, although those unions lacked the full dignity, legal protections and rights that come with marriage, including on adoption rights.

In Malta, another European Union nation, members of parliament are also expected to vote soon in favor of marriage equality. This progress in Europe comes on the heels of a recent victory in Asia, where Taiwan’s Constitutional Court ruled in favor of marriage equality in May.

Short URL: http://lgbtweekly.com/?p=80779

Northern Ireland Marriage Equality launches large scale social media campaign

NORTHERN IRELAND — The YesEquality Northern Ireland Marriage Equality campaign launched a large scale social media campaign action today.
The campaign is primarily supported by Northern Ireland based The Gay Say, LGBT Rights NI and the international anti-homophobia and suicide prevention group Stop-Homophobia.com.
The campaign has amassed huge amounts of support from individuals, celebrities, activist groups, charities, campaigners and businesses located across NI and throughout the world.
The social media project is operating through the popular “crowdspeaking” service Thunderclap, which was first used by The White House under the Obama administration to campaign against gun violence in the US.
Thunderclap enables the organizers to coordinate a massive social media campaign that will simultaneously post over 2,300 messages and reach over 7.4 million people.
The message going out is as follows:
“Northern Ireland; it’s time for equality! #MarriageEqualityNI”.
By bringing attention to the MarriageEqualityNI campaign hashtag, organizers hope to highlight the issue of marriage equality to voters across Northern Ireland and to an international audience in order to further strengthen campaign efforts.
Danny Toner speaking on behalf of the The Gay Say said: “The #MarriageEqualityNI Thunderclap Project is currently set to reach over 7.4 million people and support has increased beyond our expectations, with hundreds of supporters joining every day. Social reach for the campaign is now higher than the population of Ireland, North and South.
“We are calling on as many people as possible to join this campaign and use social media for the common good. Together we can show voters how important this issue is by reaching out to the vast numbers of people online.
“There are many people in Northern Ireland from all sections of our community who support Marriage Equality and we feel that the upcoming Assembly elections offer an unmissable opportunity to stand up for LGBT rights.
“We have been asking people to use their vote wisely, vote for candidates who support equality for everyone and make a stand against homophobia.”

Short URL: http://lgbtweekly.com/?p=77855

A Short Film for Australian Marriage Equality, We Will

‘We Will’ follows the story of a lesbian couple; from their first date, their first awkward kiss, until their wedding day.

Our short film is about the normality of same-sex relationships. Claire (Bianca Bradey) and Rachel (Madeleine Withington) are just like any other couple. The love that they share is the same as anyone else, and we think they deserve a special day to proclaim their love, not just amongst friends and family, but as equals under the law.

Date: 2015-11-22 11:23:15
Duration: 00:03:18

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