Marriage equality suffers Senate setback

A SYDNEY lesbian couple who married under British law last week have said they are deeply disappointed at the conclusions of a Senate report that dashed hopes their marriage would be recognised in Australia.

Shirleene Robinson, an academic at Macquarie University, married her fiancé Sarah Midgley, a British citizen — at the UK’s consulate in Sydney last Friday, September 26 (pictured above).

The day before, the Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee recommended that a bill introduced by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, which sought to recognise the marriages of Australian same-sex couples who had legally wed overseas, not be passed.

“It is deeply disappointing that Australians can expect greater respect and recognition from foreign governments than from our own,” Robinson said.

“We would love to have our solemn vows recognised under Australian law.”

In its report, the Senate committee accused equality campaigners of seeing any law change as a step on the road towards full same sex marriage.

“Marriage equality is an issue that should be addressed honestly and directly in the context of wider debate, not through attempts to address the issue incrementally,” it read.

The report also said couples not in a position to be married overseas would be discriminated against and the issue of marriage equality had been debated and rejected several times in parliament in recent years.

Organisations who argued against recognising overseas same sex marriages included the Australian Christian Lobby, the Federal Attorney-General’s Department and the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney

Australian Marriage Equality national director Rodney Croome said the committee dwelt on issues such as religious freedoms and the so-called “slippery slope” while ignoring the personal stories of Australian same-sex couples married under foreign laws.

“The Senate report is a slap in the face to the hundreds of loving, committed Australian couples who have married overseas,” he said.

“This one-sided report highlights why it is important for Coalition members to be allowed a free vote on marriage equality and are no longer tied to automatically opposing it.

“I don’t understand how anyone who says they respect the institution of marriage can turn around and support the invalidation of existing legal marriages.”

At the 2011 Census more than 1300 gay couples said they were married overseas while around 240 Australian same sex couples have married in New Zealand.

None of these marriages are recognised in Australia when the couples return home.

(Photo credit: Same Love Photography)