Australians have overwhelmingly said they support marriage equality in a two-month national postal survey. The results were released Nov. 14.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, almost 62 percent of registered voters responded yes to the survey which asks Parliament to consider a bill to legalize same-sex marriage by the end of the year. Nearly 38 percent of Australians voted against marriage equality.
AU Marriage Equality, the official Equality Campaign in Australia, posted a celebratory video with the message, “That’s a HUGE 61.6% YES for equality and fairness. We did this together.”
That’s a HUGE 61.6% YES for equality and fairness.
We did this together. https://t.co/EZyg9pfh0U#YES #MarriageEquality pic.twitter.com/ZqaR7x69aB— AU Marriage Equality (@AMEquality) November 15, 2017
More than 12.7 million people across the country responded to the survey. That is almost 80 percent of the country’s population.
“The people of Australia have spoken and I intend to make their wish the law of the land by Christmas. This is an overwhelming call for marriage equality,” wrote Australian’s conservative prime minister Malcolm Turnbull on his Twitter account. Turnbull also posted up a video message in the tweet.
The people of Australia have spoken and I intend to make their wish the law of the land by Christmas. This is an overwhelming call for marriage equality. pic.twitter.com/PWZbH5H71r
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) November 14, 2017
Even with the overwhelming support shown for marriage equality today, several government officials have stated they will still vote against same-sex marriage when the bill comes before Parliament.
(Image from AU Marriage Equality’s Twitter.)