Other Australian states are being urged to follow the leads of Tasmania, New South Wales and Tasmania in moving to remove laws which mean married transgender people much get divorced if they seek legal recognition of their gender reassignment. Legislation has been tabled in the three states which would end the forced divorce requirement in New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania today. Australian Marriage Equality national director Rodney Croome says the current system is cruel to transgender Australians and their partners, and demeaning of their marriage vows. "Being married is something which can sustain a relationship through the gender reassignment of one of the partners, yet here we have the government forcing an end to that marriage,” he says. "All those MPs who have expressed support for marriage as an institution should support the removal of these laws because it is about keeping married couples together." Croome says there should be no constitutional obstacles to amending state laws to end forced divorce because Australia’s Marriage Act only regulates who goes in to a marriage and is silent on gender reassignment.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 16th October 2014 - 12:54pm