Australia Says “Yes” to Same-Sex Marriage

On Nov. 15, Australian citizens celebrated as Australia reached the closest it has even been to legalizing same-sex marriage.

According to BBC News Australia, The Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that almost eight million people, which was around 61.6 percent of Australians population, had voted in favor of legalizing marriage equality as part of a national postal survey.

Reported by the New York Times, the result of the ballot is not legally binding, but Australia’s center-right Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is promising to act by Christmas to introduce a law that will allow all couples regardless of gender or sexual preference to pop the champagne and be wed.

While celebrating the “yes” votes, many Australians are still frustrated as they believe Australia could have reached this point faster if the Prime Minister had passed a bill based on previous polls which indicated what most Australians desire.

During the past decades, many polls have shown a majority of Australians support same-sex marriage. The first poll happened in 2007 with the favor being on the agreeing side, followed by many more over the following years. Results from the Pew Research data showed that over four-fifths of Australians are accepting of homosexuality in general.

Yet, there are still 4.9 million Australians who voted “no” against same-sex marriage. They insisted that allowing gay people to marry would interfere with religious freedoms, destabilize society and expose children to disturbing views on homosexuality.