Prime Minister Theresa May has urged the Australian Government to introduce same-sex marriage “very soon”.
Earlier this week the country voted to abandon the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman following a campaign of sustained abuse and threats of violence against ‘no’ voters.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said he intends to make same-sex marriage “the law of the land by Christmas”.
Vote
A non-binding postal vote saw 61.6 per cent vote in favour of legalising same-sex marriage, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
More than 12.7 million people took part in answering the question: “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?”
During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Mrs May was asked by homosexual MP Iain Stewart if she welcomed the vote.
‘Proud’
The Prime Minister said: “I am as proud as he and many others were when we passed the legislation here in this house, and made possible same-sex marriage here in the United Kingdom and I hope that the Australian government will take that vote and act on it very soon.”
The outcome was also celebrated by former Prime Minister David Cameron.
Cameron took to Twitter to say that he was “incredibly proud of legalising Same Sex Marriage in the UK & delighted that other countries are looking to do the same. G’day Australia!”
‘Slippery slope’
Thomas Pascoe, Campaign Director for the UK’s Coalition for Marriage (C4M), said it was “no surprise” to see May and Cameron celebrating the result.
“Both were instrumental in introducing this change in the UK” said Mr Pascoe, “and neither appears to regret the slippery slope that the change has led us down.”
“Indeed, Mrs May’s government is forging ahead with extremist measures which will force information on homosexual lifestyles onto children from the age of five.”
He added that the UK Government “ignored the majority of responses to their own consultation and then passed this unwanted, undemocratic legislation anyway”.
Abuse
Nearly 670,000 people signed C4M’s petition against the redefinition of marriage in England and Wales. Despite the significant opposition same-sex marriage legislation passed Westminster in 2013.
Numerous instances of abuse against Australian supporters of traditional marriage have been reported during the voting period.
Over the past few months, a mother received death threats and a Christian lost her job simply for expressing opposition to the redefinition of marriage.
Earlier this week Lyle Shelton, of the Australian Christian Lobby, posted this image on his Twitter feed:
One of our volunteers had this happen to them this morning in Sydney. This type of behaviour by either side is unacceptable & unAustralian. pic.twitter.com/ko2rbAJ96l
— Lyle Shelton (@LyleShelton) November 14, 2017