CANBERRA, August 13, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Australian Senate voted overwhelmingly in favour of a ban on homosexual “marriage” Friday. Passed by a 39-7 margin, the new bill adds the words: “Marriage means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life” to the Marriage Act.
The decision to amend the law was rushed through before the courts legislate otherwise, according to Senate members. One case before the courts involves a same-sex “couple” vying to have their “marriage”—performed in Ontario—recognized as legal in Australia.
In direct contradiction to this suit, the Senate also inserted the terms: “Certain unions are not marriages—a union solemnized in a foreign country between: (a) a man and another man; or (b) a woman and another woman; must not be recognized as a marriage in Australia.”
In a surprise reversal, Labor Party supported the ban—they had earlier supported a bid by minority Green and Democrat parties to delay the bill by redirecting it to a committee for further study.
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage: New Australian Legislation to Prohibit Homosexual ‘Marriage’ https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/may/04052708.html Read related coverage: https://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/12/1092102595712.html tv