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Same-Sex Marriage In Australia?
I saw this on Same Same
Same sex marriage is finally being recognised in Australia – but there’s a catch. One half of the couple must be transgender.
The situation applies to straight married couples, where one half decides to transition from one gender to the other. In the past these marriages would have been annulled under a “state enforced divorceâ€, however as of July 1 this will no longer be the case.
The change was brought about by the Same Sex Relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws) Act 2008.
The policy was confirmed by the Federal Attorney-General’s Department in a letter to the founder and president of Changeling Aspects, a Queensland-based support group for transsexuals, Kathy Noble.
Peter Arnaudo from the department wrote: “While the reforms do not expressly address the sex or gender diversity of specific individuals, they ensure that … a transgender individual who remains married after surgery will not be deemed to be no longer married, as a result of the reforms.â€
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5 Replies
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Wow thats good news for a lot out there. I could never see the sence of breaking a marrage as you are still the same couple as earlier, Its just now as the world see you …. you have alway been you.
Thank you for the post Amy, thats really nice to some reforms.
xxx
Kelly Jones
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Nice to see that the law is creeping slowly towards the 21st century.
How did the government find out about married post-ops…through change of name?
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From
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=844728
Note the increase in acceptability in same sex marrage in this article below
This will also translate to more acceptability of transexualsArticle reproduced just in case the link goes off in the future
Hundreds of same-sex couples will illegally tie the knot in Australia on Saturday in a bid to break a Guinness World Record.The biggest illegal mass ceremony coincides with Labor’s national conference and this year’s National Day of Action which will see thousands across the country showing support for same sex unions.
In Brisbane, five couples are expected to tie the knot illegally at Queens Park in the city’s CBD from 1pm.
Reverend Leigh from the Metropolitan Community Church, South Brisbane, will make the union.
Rally organiser Jessica Payne, 23, said most Australians supported a gay and lesbian marriage so now was the time to “remove the ban”.
“For me this campaign is a quest of equal rights (because) a ban on same sex marriage is discrimination of a group in society based on their characteristic,” Ms Payne said.
“(Minority groups) have fought for this kind of thing in the past and have won by them fighting for it and making demands.
“I think this is the same thing and it has to happen in this situation as well.”
Ms Payne said she believed Australians did not have long to go before they would see same-sex marriages become legal in every state.
“I really hope (I will see it become legal soon) because internationality the trend is for granting same sex marriage rights,” she said.
The rally comes just weeks after the senate launched an inquiry into marriage equality in response to the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2009, moved last month by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.
The young senator aims to change the Marriage Act 1961 which was amended by the Howard Government in 2004, with the support of the Labor Opposition, to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman and to exclude the recognition of overseas same sex marriages.
Prior to 2004, Australian marriage laws had not specified the gender of partners in a marriage.
A recent Galaxy Poll showed 60 per cent of Australians were in favour of same sex marriages, up 57 per cent from its 2007 poll and 38 per cent in 2004.
Speakers from The Greens, Rainbow Labor and the Australian Marriage Equality, will attend the Brisbane rally before a march through the city.
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I have split the discussion about the relevance of same sex marriage to our community to a new topic. As it was not discussing the original article.
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of course there is a down side to this – or maybe an up side (depends on ones attitudes). Same sex couples will have the same responsibilities to as wel as rights from the Government.
Like tax & centerlink, pensions etc
