On May 22nd 2015, Ireland became the first country to legalise gay marriage by popular vote. 62% of the Irish people voted yes and since then, the country has become more confident about making the necessary changes to improve life for the Irish people.
While most people are extremely unaware about same-sex marriage laws around the world, I for one, have always assumed that in such a developed and extensive country like Australia, same-sex marriage was legal. However, this is not the case, yet!
It was recently announced that on February 11th 2017, Australia will hold a referendum in an attempt to bring same-sex marriage into law in the country. During Australian elections, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull promised the people of Australia that he would ensure that they would be allowed to have their say on same-sex marriage by means of a national vote.
However, this vote is non-binding which means that even if the results prove to be in favour of the legalisation of same-sex marriage, the Australian parliament are not obliged to pass the law. Hereby meaning that the development may be blocked by members of the Senate.
Here’s hoping that Australia’s Yes Equality campaign can prevail!
