Thousands of Australians have marched for the right to marry in Equal Love rallies right across the nation. The Melbourne march featured Lord of the Rings actor Sir Ian McKellen, with Samesame.com.au reporting he stirred the 2,000 people gathered with his coming out story, “telling the crowd why the ongoing struggle for LGBT equality around the world is so important to him”. Around 1,000 people gathered in Sydney heard an audio message from Dannii Minogue. She said it is so important that gay people be given total equality and that includes marriage. "Our Government continues to ban same-sex marriages and gay, lesbian and transgender communities remain second-class citizens," she said. The protestors then marched from the Town Hall to Hyde Park, where a 100,000 signature petition supporting same-sex marriage was handed to Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young for presentation to Parliament. Hanson-Young’s Marriage Equality Amendment Bill was voted down in Federal Parliament earlier this year. She told the crowd she would reintroduce the bill after the upcoming election and vowed to make same sex marriage a significant issue in the upcoming poll. Marches were also held in Brisbane, Wollongong, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has previously said: ''Marriage is between a man and a woman.'' A spokesman for Mr Rudd told The Age that the Prime Minister stands by that view.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 16th May 2010 - 2:10pm