Tag: Australia

While the world eagerly awaits the arrival of the brand new Apple iPhone X and iPhone 8 models, the company’s openly gay CEO Tim Cook has taken the opportunity to use the increased attention to issue a pro-LGBT statement. The world’s biggest tech company has come out in support of same-sex marriage in Australia on the day its citizens can start posting their votes. “We support marriage equality and believe all Australians deserve the freedom to marry the person they love,”...

'Nobody can be mad at fairy lights' A Sydney man has started a colorful campaign to encourage Australians to vote yes for marriage equality. From today Australians will receive a ballot in the mail asking whether they agree if same-sex couples should be allowed to get married. The results of the non-binding postal survey will be revealed on November 15. The campaign is getting heated on both sides of the debate, with Australia’s largest ever rally for LGBTI rights held in Sydney...

Tens of thousands of people in cities around Australia hit the pavement to support marriage equality More than 30,000 people took to the streets of Sydney to march for marriage equality in what became Australia’s largest LGBTI rally in history on Sunday. Thousands of people also hit the streets in Brisbane and Hobart to convince their fellow Aussies to vote yes for same-sex marriage. Today marks the first day Australians will receive a ballot in their letterboxes to vote on marriage equality....

'Actually, it's a postal survey' Australia could potentially have marriage equality by the end of 2017, but that all depends on the result of a national vote. ‘Actually, it’s a postal survey’ Australia is not voting in a compulsory plebiscite or referendum on marriage equality. But rather a non-binding postal survey. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) was commissioned to hold a national poll on the issue. From September 12 every eligible voter – about 16 million people – will receive a postal survey...

Grandma has the most heartwarming reaction A new ad for marriage equality in Australia is bringing tears to eyes all over the world. Lisa calls her grandmother and asks how she is going to vote on an upcoming marriage equality postal survey. Her grandma hesitates for a while and then has the most heartwarming response. The message? It’s time to pick up the phone and ring your relatives to see how they’ll vote! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU2CGSC9a3Q The video, produced by Australian Marriage Equality, comes after the High...

The High Court has unanimously decided to allow Australians to vote on same-sex marriage. The postal vote was subject to a legal challenge from LGBT groups who insisted that right-wing Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was overreaching his authority. But this morning, judges snubbed the last-ditch effort to prevent the controversial vote from going ahead. The government now has the legal backing to spend $122 million of taxpayer money on the postal vote, which is informal, not regulated by law and happening without...

The debate around marriage equality in Australia gets uglier by the day. Despite warnings from LGBT+ activists that a plebiscite on same-sex marriage would lead to animosity towards the community – which it already has – the country is expected to take part in a postal vote on the issue later this month. Now, a priest at a Greek Orthodox Church in Melbourne has come under fire for allegedly demanding his flock vote no in the marriage equality vote, and later...

'...it transformed me into the person I am today with a strong mind, body and soul' Body image is one of society’s biggest struggles, especially for the gay community. Many of us battle stigma from outside and within in the fight to achieve the idea of the ‘perfect’ body. Elias Nohra, 21 from Sydney, Australia, has been steadily cataloging his progress as he transforms his body. Using his platform on Instagram, which has over 50,000 followers, Nohra discusses openly his experience enduring...

A gay Australian couple has said that they intend to vote against marriage equality in the upcoming postal vote. The couple, Mark Poidevin and Ben Rogers, met 15 years ago on a website appropriately named ‘Gay.com’. They say it was love at first sight. Poidevin explained that he loves his partner “dearly” and that “there’s no-one else I’d like to spend my life with than him”. Despite their love, they will be voting against marriage equality, they told ABC Australia. “I used to...

The men said the marriage equality vote could be 'Australia's Brexit' A gay couple in Australia has come under fire for their opposition to marriage equality. Ben Rogers and Mark Poidevin appeared on the nightly news and current affairs show 7.30 to share their surprising point of view. Australia is gearing up to hold a non-binding postal survey on marriage equality. Australians will be asked via a postal ballot if they support same-sex marriage. If the majority vote ‘yes’, parliament will vote...

The media is propagating yet more fake news ahead of the vote on equal marriage in Australia. A group known as Dads4Kids made a splash today after claiming in the Australian that they were banned from taking out a TV ad ‘celebrating’ Father’s Day, ahead of a postal vote on equal marriage this month. The Father’s Day ad, which featured exclusively heterosexual couples, was set to air on September 3 on Free TV, but the network flagged it as containing undeclared...

You’ve probably seen the ridiculous Australian anti-same-sex marriage advert by now. You know the one – a mother tells you that her child’s school told him he could wear a dress, and you think: “Oh, that seems reasonable.” Then another throws her hands up in the air about her precious darling having to role play being in a same-sex couple, as if it’s a bad thing to think deeply about different sexualities. And, as a new parody ad suggests, there may be...

A former football player has proven himself a tremendous ally in the fight for marriage equality in Australia. Mark Orval, aka "Angry Dad" is known for his no-nonsense takes on topics of various sorts. But it's the 49-year-old's rant on the pending vote on same-sex marriage that's gone viral in a big way. When his sons (who also support the fight for marriage equality) bring up the same-sex marriage vote, he responds: “Don’t f*cking start me on that s*it! “They’re spending $122 f*cking million...

You can watch the ceremony live streamed here or on GSN's Facebook page A Brit-Aussie gay couple are celebrating their civil partnership today, and they’re inviting you to the ceremony. On Gay Star News’ Facebook page, and on this very page, you can watch as a same-sex couple say their ‘I do’s’ in an incredible live streamed video. James Besanvalle, a Gay Star News 26-year-old journalist, and fiancé Matt Horwood, a 28-year-old who works at UK LGBT charity Stonewall, will be holding...