When I decided to become a Marriage Celebrant in late 2017, I thought what a great way to bring some more love into my life. I'd been fighting and marching and flag waving for Marriage Equality since the early 90's in Adelaide. To be honest, back then I didn't even know if i ever wanted to get married. Now I look back, I realised that in those early days I wasn't really marching for 'marriage' equality I was marching for equality. The right to have a choice. After coming out when I was around 21, I firmly entrenched my life in the LGBTQI+ community in Adelaide. Ive made life long friends in the community and marched in anything and everything LGBTQI+ related.
Still with only small changes occurring in the Australian parliament over that time, many worn out shoes and decades later with a number of different Australian interstate moves, I landed in beautiful QLD.
On Saturday 8th August 2015, I marched my last ever rally with my wife Alison and my niece Ruby.
That's us making the cover of QNews!
It was a full 2 years later on the 15th November 2017 after 2 months of ridicule, hate speeches and way too many LGBTQI+ suicides, the postal vote for Marriage Equality concluded. It was a resounding YES and the LGBTQI+ community rejoiced and morned all at the same time.
On 9 December 2017 the Marriage Act of 1961 officially and historically changed forever. The times of LGBTQI+ members cringing at the back of their heterosexual friends weddings when the words - in Australia a marriage is between a man and a woman were over. It only took 2 words "two people" to replace a man and a woman for everything to change in the wedding/marriage space.
With over 2400 LGBTQI+ weddings in the first 6 months of legislative change, it was clear this was a long time coming.
Me being gay doesn't define my choices as a marriage celebrant. Being a good human who values everyones right to be able to marry sure as hell does. So when people ask me do I only perform LGBTQI+ weddings, my answer is 'of course not'. I'll marry anyone who gels with me and who takes the time to get to know and understands me and shares the same values as me. Anyone who's committed to their significant other enough to stand in this world with their head held high, screaming from the roof tops this is my person and they make me a better person. LOVE has no gender, LOVE is energy, LOVE is commitment LOVE is bloody hard work.
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