Australia has become the 26th country to formally legalize same-sex marriage after a historic vote this Thursday.
Just last month, Australians overwhelmingly voted via a nationwide poll to make marriage equality a law in their country. Three-quarters of Australians, or almost 12 million people (74.5% of the country’s eligible voters), gave a resounding ‘yes’ to the survey, and it prompted the Australian government to begin debating the issue in Parliament.
An Australian MP named Tim Wilson even proposed to his partner, Ryan Bolger, in the middle of the debates. It was a heartwarming moment as Wilson tearfully recounted how his partner had endured the many years of the struggle for marriage equality, before asking him to marry him.
You can watch the video here:
As the news broke out worldwide, people on social media expressed their joy:
Australia has passed #marriageequality. I want to pay tribute to every single LGBTI person and ally who fought for years to get us to this moment. Today is our day. Today love won, and all Australians are better off for it. 🏳️🌈
— Jason Ball (@jasonballau) December 7, 2017
https://twitter.com/oldbiddyyelling/status/938665902542688256
It's a lonely, lonely place, the wrong side of history. #marriageequality pic.twitter.com/Bm8dMMOMlj
— Jen Dudley-Nicholson (@jendudley) December 7, 2017
It took too long. It hurt too many. But we are finally there, Australia. The patience, dignity and resilience of the LGBTQI community has been extraordinary….and I'm available for weddings… #MarriageEquality
— Charlie Pickering (@charliepick) December 7, 2017
https://twitter.com/DocAvvers/status/938671903832645632
https://twitter.com/itsmaddybrown/status/938676966823047168
Congratulations to Australia, most especially to those who fought long and hard to make this a reality! Love wins!
