Cushla wore a white dress for her
big day, Tania, braces, a hat and bow-tie. The couple, now wife and
wife, tied the knot during a small ceremony led by an unregistered
celebrant on a farm west of Sydney, Australia. It had all the hallmarks
of a "real" wedding. Except this one wasn't valid, at least under
Australian law.
Australia
is one of many countries around the world where same-sex couples are
not permitted to legally marry. And the law doesn't seem likely to
change any time soon.
Prime Minister Julia
Gillard, who has long opposed gay marriage, made it clear Thursday that
her mind hadn't been nudged by a politically risky move by U.S.
President Barack Obama to back same-sex marriages Wednesday night.
"My view hasn't changed
and when a bill comes to the parliament later this year, moved by
private members, Stephen Jones, one of our Labor members... When that
bill comes to the parliament this year I won't vote for it," Gillard
told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Jones is one of two
members of parliament who have submitted a private member's bill that
calls for the legalization of gay marriage, however neither Gillard nor
main opposition leader Tony Abbott support it.
"Obviously
at this stage we've still got more work to do," said John Kloprogge,
spokesman for campaign group Australian Marriage Equality. "But we are
confident that this issue has the support of the majority of Australians
and it will eventually be supported by the leaders of our major
parties."
Obama's decision to
openly endorse same-sex marriage won plaudits from campaigners worldwide
who have been pushing for more liberal laws since the first same-sex
couples walked down the aisle in the Netherlands in 2001.
Same-sex marriages are now allowed in a number of U.S. states and in countries including Belgium, Canada, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland and Argentina, according to Australian Marriage Equality.
Wedding bells are close
to ringing on same-sex marriages elsewhere: Leading human rights
activist Peter Tatchell hailed Obama's move as evidence that support for
same-sex marriage was "an unstoppable global trend".
"Gay marriage is all
about love," he said. "The love of same-sex couples is just as real,
strong and committed as that of married heterosexual men and women.
Prohibiting same-sex marriage devalues and denigrates the love of
lesbian and gay couples. It signifies our continuing second class legal
status."
British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he supports their legalization in the UK, where authorities are currently consulting on the issue, having permitted civil partnerships since 2005.
However the issue's
omission this week from the Queen's Speech, which outlines laws to be
introduced in the coming months, dismayed campaigners. Ben Summerskill,
of gay rights charity Stonewall said he was "disappointed," and pledged
"to push both coalition parties to deliver on their promise... by 2015."
After becoming the first country to legalize same-sex unions in 1989, Denmark is close to doing the same for same-sex marriages. And Nepal, a country that only legalized same sex unions in 2008, has appointed a committee to develop laws on same-sex marriages.
However, in many
countries LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) campaigners are
nowhere near close to reaching for the confetti on gay marriage. Simply
being able to live without fear or prejudice is the aim of activists in
countries where homosexuality remains taboo or illegal.
According to a report
released in May 2011 by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans
and Intersex Association, same-sex relations are still criminalized in
76 countries, and in five of those countries the death penalty can be
applied.
The countries with the harshest penalties are in Africa and the Middle East.
MPs in Uganda
have repeatedly tried to introduce an anti-homosexuality bill which
would make homosexual acts a capital offense; prominent gay rights
activist David Kato was beaten to death in the country in 2011.
And even in South Africa,
where single sex marriage was legalized in 2006, and where the
post-apartheid constitution bans prejudice on the grounds of
homosexuality, attacks on gays and lesbians -- including instances of
so-called "corrective rape" -- still occur.
In other regions too, attitudes have been slow to change. In Indonesia,
efforts to frame a Gender Equality Bill were resisted by campaigners
who said that gender equality could open up room for legalizing same sex
unions, according to Human Rights Watch.
Last month, a court in Malaysia backed police over its ban on a gay rights festival which officials argued could disrupt public order. And in Hong Kong,
the sexuality of pop star Anthony Wong made headlines when he
confirmed, after years of speculation, that he was gay. It was said to
be the first time in nine years that a pop star had come out as
homosexual in China's Special Administrative Region.
"Hong Kong doesn't have
the gay bashing that a lot of countries have... But at the same time you
still have people who are very ignorant," said Reggie Ho, Chairman of
the Pink Alliance which is organizing a concert Wong is due to perform
at on Saturday, May 12. The concert is part of an event to mark
International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT), which is
observed in 60 countries. The official date is May 17, the day in 1990
that the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list
of mental disorders.
"They gossip about you,
or they make suggestions that hurt you very much. So it's that kind of
discrimination and the fact that the Hong Kong government has not moved
forward at all in terms of legislating against discrimination against
sexual minorities," Ho said.
Separately in Australia
on Saturday, campaigners will be holding a National Day of Action for
Marriage Equality when thousands are expected to march through major
cities calling for same-sex marriage.
"A lot of people are
getting exasperated that we don't have it yet," said Jessica Payne who
is organizing the Brisbane march. "I think it is a matter of time but
it's not going to happen without a push."
Cushla said she and Tania weren't willing to sit around and wait "and hope" for same-sex marriage to become legal.
"I didn't want to miss
out. I just wanted it to be the way that we wanted it to be, despite the
fact that my partner is a woman," she said. "Eventually, when it
becomes legal, we'll legally bind it."
Source: CNN News