Sydney - At the stroke of midnight and in
the early hours of Tuesday morning dozens of same-sex couples
exchanged wedding vows across Australia as laws making the
nation the 26th in the world to legalise gay marriage took
effect.
"It was just magical," Diana Ribeiro told Special
Broadcasting Service television, after her minute-past-midnight
marriage in Melbourne to her wife Deanne Ribeiro was solemnised
before about 60 cheering guests.
"For me Deanne's always been my wife, always been the love
of my life and today's not going to change that, it's just about
equality really, and being able to finally be legal in
Australia," she said.
Australian's parliament voted to legalise same-sex marriage
in December after a nationwide postal survey returned an
overwhelming majority in favour of the unions.
The survey result prompted relief, then celebration among
campaigners who had for decades pushed for change, and later
cheers and singing on the floor of parliament when the law
passed. Some Australian states ruled homosexual acts to be
illegal until just 20 years ago.
Because a month's notice is required for the state to
recognise a marriage, the Rieberos' wedding and several other
same-sex marriages reported in the local press were among the
first to be recognised under the new laws.
Several same-sex couples already wed in December after the
notice period was waived for reasons such as one member of the
couple falling gravely ill, or to allow a legal wedding to go
ahead when a non-binding ceremony was already planned.
Religious organisations and conservative lawmakers had
voiced strong opposition to same-sex marriage and pressed
unsuccessfully for broad protections for religious objectors,
which would have allowed florists and bankers to refuse service
to same-sex couples if the unions were legalised.