Posted on 12/11/2013 10:32:58 PM PST by Olog-hai
Australia’s highest court has struck down a landmark law allowing the country’s first gay marriages, shattering the dreams of more than two dozen same-sex newlyweds whose marriages will now be annulled less than a week after their weddings.
The federal government had challenged the validity of the Australian Capital Territory’s law that had allowed gay marriages in the nation’s capital and its surrounding area, starting last Saturday. […]
The High Court unanimously ruled that the ACT’s law could not operate concurrently with the federal Marriage Act, which was amended in 2004 to define marriage as between a man and a woman. …
(Excerpt) Read more at belfasttelegraph.co.uk ...
>> shattering the dreams of more than two dozen ...
Still trying to understand the “gay” component of these marriages. But what then is homosexuality without sodomy?
Yeah. A win for sanity!
Australia does best when it keeps its independent spirit, based on morality and common sense. A proud moment for the Aussis.
Notice it’s not “marriage,” but “gay marriage.” The best that queers can ever hope for is “separate, but equal.”
No matter how loud they scream and shout, society will never accept them, and there will always be an * next to anything they try to do to become “mainstream.”
If I were younger and they didn’t have gun control, I’d consider moving there.
Unfortunately for those who oppose same sex marriage, this ruling is not based on either morality or anything else of that nature. It's purely and simply based on Australian Constitutional law.
Australia's Constitution sets out very clearly a few areas which are expressly under the control of the Federal government in Canberra - one of these is marriage. It's a plain English statement that doesn't lend itself to any ambiguity.
Section 51
The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:
.....
(xxi) marriage;
(xxii) divorce and matrimonial causes; and in relation thereto, parental rights, and the custody and guardianship of infants;
The High Court ruled unanimously that because of these clear statements, the government of the Australian Capital Territory could not have laws that had a different definition of marriage than that laid down in Commonwealth (national level) law - and that's the reason the ACT law failed.
If the Commonwealth Parliament were to pass a law allowing same sex marriage - and that is probably inevitable the next time we get a Labor government, even if they don't force it before - the High Court will endorse that decision - that's the other side of this ruling. They've basically said that the Commonwealth Parliament can do it, without impediment - just the states and territories can't.
So when Australia gets same sex marriage, it will be the whole country at once. And it will, Constitutionally speaking, be game over.
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