Australia allows legally binding ceremonies for gay couples

Nov 26, 2009, 5:22 GMT

   Sydney - The Australian federal government will not move to strike out a local law that allowed the first legally binding civil partnership ceremony to take place in Canberra earlier this week.

   'This locks in the role of ceremonies for same-sex couples,' Canberra local government spokesman Simon Corbell said Thursday.

   Warren McGaw and Chris Rumble, a couple for nearly 20 years, took advantage of a law passed in the Canberra Legislative Assembly to be the first same-sex couple in Australia to have their civil partnership recognized in a legal ceremony.

   'We thought we'd take this opportunity not only for gay couples Australia-wide ... but just for human rights,' McGaw said at the ceremony in the gardens of Old Parliament House. 'I think the majority of Australians are behind us.'

   Both major political parties in Australia have refused to endorse same-sex marriage and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had indicated he would move to override the Canberra Legislative Assembly legislation.

   Corbell said Rudd had agreed to allow the legislation to stand.

   'We have legal ceremonies and we have legal ceremony celebrants and that is a very important reform,' he said. 'This now opens the door for other states and territories to follow the ACT [Australian Capital Territory] lead, knowing that the Commonwealth accepts ceremonies are now a legal part of the equation.'