Meanwhile in Australia

[dreamer_easy]

Just recently (14 October) the Senate's Inquiry into the Same-Sex Relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws—General Law Reform) Bill 2008 has recommended passage of the Bill.

And on 16 October, the Senate passed the Family Law Amendment (De Facto Financial Matters and Other
Measures) Bill 2008 (although technical stuff means it'll have to go round once more before becoming law).

Basically, in Australia, gay marriage per se is not on the agenda, but IIUC correctly the laws which cover de facto straight couples are being changed to cover same sex couples as well. This addresses what is IMHO the crux of the issue: citizens who are expected to pay the same tax as everyone else, but are not entitled to the same rights and benefits as everyone else.

Comments

[nyssa1968.livejournal.com]

As someone on a list I'm on said so eloquently (though I'm only paraphrasing): the joy of the Obama victory is clashing so horribly with the fact that couples finally able to be legally recognised as a couple - in fact, having gotten married - will go back to being unrecognised as such - in fact, being not married. People they know are concerned about the kids of these relationships - gone in one moment to be the kids of a married couple to a still-together-but-no-longer-married parents.

I have also just thought of a lesbian couple who were delighted to be married after decades of not being allowed to - and one of them died happily married only very recently. I wonder if their relationship will stand? And how devastating that would be to the widow.

I confess to never having thought of that dimension, and but it reaffirms my view - while I'm not so interested in marriage (might be different if I was in a relationship, mind) I so strongly support the rights of people who want to get married!

A lot of the Americans I know are rallying for the ongoing battle. One has pointed out that in an odd way this is going to keep the issue in the spot light, which will eventually give it the impetus to change. Obama has shown that change can be profound (and there were reports of Obama supporters in California pushing people to do those absentee votes, and to vote no against Prop 8, which should scotch some of that Obama-was-for-Prop-8 I've heard about).

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

There's going to be a legal battle over the validity of those marriages.

Obama's on record as being against Prop 8, though he's not for gay marriage per se, just equal rights.