The Equality Campaign has thanked the Australian people and congratulated the parliament for passing the same-sex marriage bill into law on Thursday afternoon.
This bill ensures every LGBTI Australian will now be treated equally with the same dignity and respect as their fellow Australians and will be able to marry the person they love.
We would like to thank the tens of thousands of Australians who tirelessly volunteered across the nation. We achieved this because of you. Today is your day.
To the many LGBTI Australians who have gone before us – thank you. The YES Campaign salutes you and we are eternally grateful for the path you paved, the path that enables us to be here today. Today is in your honour.
To every young LGBTI Australian across the nation, today ensures there will never be a question about whether you can have the same dreams, aspirations and opportunities as your brothers, sisters and friends.
For those who have waited months, years or decades to finally have the chance to marry, it’s now your time.
This has been a tough road for LGBTI Australians, their families and friends. However, achieving marriage equality today enables us to move forward stronger and more resilient, knowing that no Australian has to ever live through this experience again.
We thank the millions of Australians who voted YES and we want to assure every Australian who didn’t that marriage equality will take from no-one and simply make our nation a kinder, fairer and more inclusive place to live.
Today we celebrate that finally the law recognises what we always knew: our lives and relationships have the same value and worth. We are equal.
We did this together, be proud.
