A gay couple who will fly to England to tie the knot are disappointed they’ll have to leave their marriage at customs when they return home to Australia.
Murray Sayers and his partner Stephen Carlton have been together for a decade and are planning their London nuptials, after the UK’s first gay weddings this weekend.
“We thought after 10 years that we weren’t going to wait around for things to happen here so we decided to go to England knowing that the laws were changing,” Mr Carlton said on Friday.
“We will have to check that marriage at the customs gate when we come back to Melbourne.”
Chris Elliott and Dale Park, who recently moved to Australia, say they want to be considered equal and their only option to be legally married is through the UK consulate.
As it stands, federal law stipulates that marriage can be solemnised only between a man and a woman and a union solemnised between a same-sex couple in a foreign country is not recognised as marriage in Australia.
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is planning to introduce a bill to recognise international same-sex marriages in Australia.
The bill will be sent to a Senate inquiry to give MPs across the political spectrum a say while looking at the impact of marriage equality overseas, Senator Hanson-Young said.
“Tomorrow in England, knights can marry knights and dames can marry dames – I think we should just have the same here in Australia,” she said. – AAP
IMAGE: Lisa Anderson and Rozi Stallard attend a rally for same-sex marriage.
