At-a-glance: Same-sex marriage around the world. Various countries and jurisdictions around the world have legally formalised same-sex marriages, while others recognise the unions but do not allow instruments of the state to perform them. Full legalisation Since 2001, 19 countries have legalised same-sex marriage, affording full recognition and rights to couples entering into them. (Image: Freedom to marry) They are (in chronological order): Netherlands (April 1, 2001) Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba) Belgium (June 1, 2003) Spain (July 3, 2005) Canada (July 20, 2005) South Africa (2006) Norway (January 1, 2009) Sweden (May 1, 2009) Portugal (June 5, 2010) Iceland (June 27, 2010) Argentina (July 22, 2010) Denmark (15 June 2012) Uruguay (April 2, 2013) New Zealand (April 17, 2013) France (April 23, 2013) Luxembourg (June 18, 2014) Scotland (February 4, 2014) England and Wales (July 17, 2013) Brazil (May 14 2013) Partial legalisation Laws underway Civil unions Andorra Austria Colombia Czech Republic Ecuador Finland Germany Greenland Hungary Ireland.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten takes same-sex marriage stance to Australian Christian Lobby. Updated Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has reasserted his support for same-sex marriage in a speech to a Christian conference, taking aim at those who "insult and demonise people on the basis of who they love". Mr Shorten made the comments in a speech to the Australian Christian Lobby national conference in Canberra on Saturday. "When I see people hiding behind the bible to insult and demonise people on the basis of who they love, I cannot stay silent. I do not agree," he said. "When I hear that people allege that God tells them that marriage equality is the first step to polygamy and bigamy and bestiality, I cannot stay silent. I simply do not agree. "These prejudices do not reflect the Christian values that I believe in. During a public question and answer session with Mr Shorten after his speech, the lobby's managing director, Tony Shelton, disputed the claim people have cited God when talking about the link between marriage equality and bestiality.
Same-sex marriage debate closer to tipping point. About a month ago I met a student actor who was interested in portraying me in a play about the lives of gay and lesbian men and women in today's Australia. Without knowing any of the detail, I was intrigued by the concept and agreed to participate. Over the course of our first meeting, this young artist and I talked about my life and coming out, my relationships with my family and partner Virginia, and my role as a councillor at the City of Sydney. We discussed at length how I feel about and relate to my brother, Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who would inevitably be central to some of the discourse of the other people featured in the play. I recounted honestly and in detail his empathetic, non-judgmental and supportive response to my revelation to him that I was gay. At the last of what turned out to be several sessions, she and I talked about how she had been affected by our conversations and by the reactions of her fellow students to her having chosen me as her subject.
Advertisement. Australian Marriage Equality. Australia's first same sex marriages celebrated | SBS News. The bride wore white and so did her wife. Corinna Peck and Stacey Cowen were among some 15 couples to tie the knot in Canberra on Saturday as Australia's first same-sex marriage law came into play. But while the outfits were bright and newlywed smiles beamed across the nation's capital, a dark cloud was hanging over the future validity of the same-sex unions. On Thursday the High Court will rule if the ACT's Marriage Equality Act, passed in October, is at odds with Commonwealth law and therefore invalid.
The threat didn't dampen the enthusiasm of groom Ivan Hinton who vowed to make partner Chris Teoh his "lawful wedded husband". "There should never be any rule in this country that disrespects the commitment that two people like us wish to express to one another," Mr Hinton told reporters after his wedding. Ceremonies kicked off at 12.01am (AEDT) with two couples rushing to become Australia's first legally-recognised "husbands". "This doesn't effect those people who don't agree with it. Articles about Gay Marriage. February 14, 2012 | By Deborah Netburn The Valentine's Day Google Doodle is pure sweetness. A one-minute animation, drawn with childlike innocence, it depicts a little boy trying to figure out what to get for his heart's desire - a little girl who jumps rope. He buys her flowers, and chocolates (via Google, of course), but she pays no attention.
He tries clothes, and balloons, a pie and a television, a top hat, an old-fashioned submarine helmet, and still she continues to jump rope, oblivious to his overtures. As a last-ditch effort he walks over to her with his own jump rope clutched in his hands and starts to jump rope alongside her. And then -- she stops jumping. March 7, 2012 | By Seema Mehta Just as President Obama's top campaign advisors are arguing that the prolonged GOP primary is raising controversial issues that will alienate the eventual GOP nominee from independent and swing voters in the fall, Democrats are facing a similar quandary.
July 6, 2012 | By Christie D'Zurilla. Same-Sex Marriage News. ACLU Files Suit Challenging NC Second Parent Adoptions Ban. The ACLU this week filed a federal lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s ban on second parent adoptions. Second parent adoptions occur when one partner in an unmarried couple adopts the other partner’s biological or adopted children so as to be able to access the legal recognition of parenthood. For several years family court judges in North Carolina had recognized second parent adoptions. However, in 2010 the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that second parent adoptions involving same-sex couples isn’t legal in the state because the state confers parenting rights as part of its narrow definition of marriage factored against biological parenting rights.
This means that even though the so-called second parent may have raised the family’s children as her own for a number of years, a second parent would have no parental claim should the relationship dissolve or something happen to the designated parent. Said Jennifer Rudinger, Executive Director of the ACLU of North Carolina: Gay marriage bill passes in New York: How the deal was finally done in Albany. Mike Groll/AP New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo celebrates his huge political win with the passage of the gay marriage bill. ALBANY - A vote of conscience has left the four Republican senators who helped legalize gay marriage already facing retribution from the Conservative Party.
Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long said the four have lost the backing of the small but influential party for what he deemed their "betrayal" of principles. "It's absolutely a betrayal," Long said. But Gov. Cuomo, a Democrat who polls show is popular among Republicans, deemed all four "people of courage, people of principle" and recognized that for them, the vote to support gay marriage was "politically more dangerous. " "I represent the people of this state of New York and I'm going to tell them what I believe and that is what I believe," Cuomo said.
Gay marriage advocates said they expect money from same-sex groups to flow to the four not just as a thank you, but also as a message to Republicans nationally. Articles on marriage | Australian Marriage Forum. MARRIAGE AND FAMILY: Same-sex 'marriage' and its consequences (Gerard Calilhanna) By Gerard Calilhanna News Weekly, March 15, 2014 “Just now I held up the fingers of my hand to you. You saw five fingers. Do you remember that?” “Yes.” O’Brien held up the fingers of his left hand, with the thumb concealed. “There are five fingers there. And he did see them, for a fleeting instant, before the scenery of his mind changed. . — George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four.[1] Evidence is beginning to filter through that detail the consequences of legislating for homosexual “marriage” across nations and states.
The focus of her paper is to evaluate the claims “that opening up marriage to same-sex couples will actually strengthen the institution... Contrary to current propaganda, the findings depict a very negative picture. Marriage must be abolished and replaced with another concept, hostile to the first. Overseas experience Family First NZ’s Bob McCoskrie In the United States Air Force, Senior Master Sergeant Phillip Monk Declining rates of heterosexual marriage Professor Susan L. . “38. . “39. Does the federal government recognize same-sex marriages? - Everything you need to know about same-sex marriage. Court watchers expect same-sex marriage cases to work up to the US Supreme Court, which could make the final decision on the issue. If the US Supreme Court takes up the challenges, it's widely expected the nation's highest court will strike down states' same-sex marriage bans using similar legal rationale it used to end the federal ban on same-sex marriages.
Before that, the US Supreme Court must first decide whether to accept an appeal on the same-sex marriage cases climbing through the judicial system. The Supreme Court rejected appeals from five states on October 6, but it's likely to take up a future case should a federal appeals court rule against marriage equality. Paul Smith, one of the nation's leading attorneys on LGBT issues, argues that the US Supreme Court is most likely interested in deciding such a huge legal issue. "My personal view is that the Supreme Court wants to be the one to decide this issue, not the lower courts," he said. Marriage equality around the world | Australian Marriage Equality. Here is a list of countries which allow same-sex couples to marry, together with the dates on which same-sex marriages were first performed. The Australian Government does not recognise same-sex marriages entered into overseas, nor allow same-sex marriages to be performed within Australia.
Places that allow same-sex marriages and the date on which they were first performed Places where same-sex marriages are recognised but not performed Israel 2006California (US) 2007Mexico (all states) 2010Tasmania (Aus) 2010Queensland (Aus) 2011 Places where same-sex marriages are imminent ScotlandWashington State (USA)United KingdomFinlandNepalSloveniaParaguayBrazil. Same-Sex Marriage – Rise Up Australia Party. Rise Up Australia opposes same-sex marriage because we are committed to protecting the traditional family unit with nurturing relationships between husband, wife and children. Research confirms that this model provides the best outcomes for the child and for society as a whole. 1 Definition of Marriage Marriage, as defined in the Marriage Amendment Act 2004, means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life (1).
This federal legislation makes it clear that if the states pass any laws in relation to same-sex marriage they will be invalid. The Marriage Act would firstly have to be amended and then Federal Parliament would have to pass a law making same-sex marriage legal. In addition, Rise Up Australia opposes child marriage, bigamy, polygamy and Centrelink funding of such and similar practices (3)(4). 2 Oppose ‘Hate Crimes’ 3 Mother-Father Child Rearing 4 Better Outcomes End notes The Marriage Act 1961 Part 1. 5 Interpretation states that:- Same-sex Marriage is an Equality Issue. “[T]he freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.” Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. at 12 (1967) Generally speaking states get to decide who can marry.
For example, New Hampshire, along with eight other states and Washington, D.C., have passed laws that recognize same-sex marriage. I have friends and colleagues who have married their same-sex partners in New Hampshire; Washington, D.C.; and New York. Under current federal law, my friends in same-sex marriages do not receive the veterans benefits (including pensions and survivor entitlements), protective tax treatment on income, estates, gifts, and property sales, or federal employee benefits – both civilian and military – that heterosexual married couples do. Thankfully, marriage is also a constitutional matter. The question for our generation, and now for the U.S. This issue has made its way to the U.S. The first case is Hollingsworth v. (Erin B. Same-sex marriage. Mary Anne Neilsen, Law and Bills Digest Background Same-sex marriage has been on the political agenda in Australia for several years, as part of the broader debate about the legal recognition of same-sex relationships.
The expansion of legal rights and protections afforded to same-sex couples in Australia is well developed at both federal and state level. For example, legislation now exists in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, and the Australian Capital Territory that provides for the legal recognition of relationships, including same-sex unions. At the federal level, in 2008 and 2009, there was a wide-ranging suite of reforms to provide equal entitlements and responsibilities for same-sex couples in areas such as social security, employment, taxation and superannuation.
Thus, civil unions and domestic partner registries are regarded as insufficient and, for true equality, same-sex couples must have the right to marry. Parliamentary reform Opinion polls Further reading.