The Australian Parliament has approved on Thursday a law that legalizes same-sex marriage, less than a month after the overwhelming majority of citizens of the country overwhelmingly supported this legislation in a non-mandatory postal referendum. After years of political disputes over the matter, the approval was greeted with applause and hugs in the House. Only four of the 150 deputies voted against
The approval closes a long debate in Australia, which becomes the 26th nation that legalizes marriage between people of the same sex. The Marriage Act of 1961, effective until the entry into force of the now approved, was amended in 2004 to specify that this union is exclusive between a man and a woman. In fact, since that year there have been about twenty attempts to approve gay marriage
The Senate of the country had already given its approval last week to bill 43-12, claimed by a large majority of the population. In the referendum on November 15, citizen participation, which was not mandatory, was 79.5% of the 16 million Australians called to vote
The yes to marriage between people of the same sex won with 61.6% against 38.4% of the no. Although the vote was not binding, the conservative government of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull promised to immediately present this initiative in Parliament to make it a law and realize the aspirations of many homosexual couples. And that happened today
It is now up to Governor-General Peter Cosgrove, the representative in Australia of Queen Elizabeth of England, to sign this law, which should happen in the coming days
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