Same-sex couple gets married in Australia for equality

Same-sex couple gets married in Australia for equality
Image: Dylan and Cameron's wedding. Image by Frank Farrugia at Same Love Photography.

Dylan and Cameron of Kiama have been married only a few weeks, and their marriage is already making a difference towards visibility and equality.

The couple have known each other for five years, and got engaged on a trip to Uluru a year and a half ago. They picked January for a summer wedding in the picturesque NSW country.

“It was awesome,” says Dylan. “We’re glad we did it. It was perfect.”

“We had the love and support of our whole families,” adds Cameron.

They got married at the stylish Silos Estate Winery in Berry on the south coast. The venue is stunning, with restored nineteenth-century buildings and lush countryside making a perfect setting for the special day.

“The venue and the suppliers were really supportive and excited to do it,” says Dylan. “They’re all really hoping marriage equality goes through because they want to have more gay weddings to do.

“The only thing was they all give you the standard forms to fill out, and everything says ‘bride’ and ‘groom’.

“Most of the places that handled our wedding, because of us they’re now redoing the forms and everything to be gender-neutral. They didn’t even realise until we were doing it that it excludes people.”

Planning a wedding is always a massive task, with many decisions to be made about how the day will go. “We didn’t want to have a super traditional wedding,” says Cameron. “But we didn’t want to break too far from tradition either.”

The guys weren’t sure what to do instead of throwing a bridal bouquet. They went to a supermarket the night before the wedding to find something to throw, and came up with the perfect solution.

“We threw an eggplant,” laughs Dylan. “But then we had to explain to all the older relatives what the significance was.”

Dylan and Cameron's wedding. Image by Britt Andrews Photography.
Dylan and Cameron’s wedding. Image by Frank Farrugia at Same Love Photography.

The couple have just returned from their honeymoon, a 12-night South Pacific cruise. They’re enjoying married life.

“Everything’s changed and nothing’s changed,” says Cameron. “But I think being married now is making a difference to other people.

“We were in a couples game show on the cruise. Everyone was so accepting. After that we had other gay people come up to us and thank us for doing it.”

One gay couple even said they planned to get married after meeting Dylan and Cameron.

The guys wanted to get married in Australia to make attending easier for family, but also because they wanted to get married on their own terms rather than waiting for marriage equality in Australia or going overseas.

“We were saying, our love is just as valid here as it is in any other country where it’s already accepted,” says Dylan.

“You’ve got to be the change you want to see,” says Cameron. “You’re not going to change stigmas without action.”

Dylan and Cameron’s wedding. Image by Frank Farrugia at Same Love Photography.

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One response to “Same-sex couple gets married in Australia for equality”

  1. What’s the point? It’s still not legal nor recognised! No different from getting legally married overseas and the returning to Australia to be still legally not married nor recognised. We need it to be in Australian laws that same sex marraiges are legally recognised. We don’t want the politicians to say “Let them play their games and pretend to get married when it is not legal” and they continue ignore the necessity to make it lawful. We need to keep pushing for them to make it lawful rather than bury our heads in the sand and just go ahead and get ‘married’ when it has no meaning in the eyes of Australian law.