It’s a historic day. The Australian Senate’s inquiry into marriage equality has reported back to Parliament this afternoon, strongly recommending a change to the Marriage Act.

79,200 submissions to the inquiry were received, with the Senate saying this was an “unprecedented” number of views, many of them heartfelt opinions about an issue they felt very strongly about. Of them, 59% were in favour of marriage equality, with 41% against.

“What marriage was many decades years ago is different to what we have in our country today,” noted the inquiry.

“It’s time to accept same-sex couples choose to stay together for the rest of their lives, because they are deeply in love.”

http://www.samesame.com.au/news/local/8588/Senate-strongly-backs-marriage-equality.htm

This is a big deal. It doesn't mean the legislation will pass- that will not happen without a conscience vote on for all parties-but two coalition Senators supported the recommendations. That is huge. The report (as was the House of Reps report tabled last week) is an excellent analysis of the available evidence and issues of legislation. Much will be made by ACL and others of the dissenting reports, but it is the analysis of the majority report (and in the Reps case, the committee's report) that will provide the foundation for the ongoing dialogue. "The committee found" is a compelling piece of argument. For those who are interested the senate report can be found here:

http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=legcon_ctte/marriage_equality_2012/report/index.htm

and the house report here:

http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=spla/bill%20marriage/report.htm

There was a LOT of work that went into these reprots and a lot of skill from the research officers and committee staff. The next step is the bills will be debated, although it is likely that the parties will work together to put up a single bill (which will probably be defeated if things remain as they are)

Awesome news. It might not happen overnight but change is a coming and we will see same sex marriage in Australia.