WHEN you walk into a polling booth next month, Paul McCarthy and Trent Kandler want you to be thinking of them.
The Newcastle couple will on Monday become the first gay Australians to be wed under new same-sex marriage laws in New Zealand.
Their 9am ceremony on the inaugural day of the new legislation will make them one of the first gay couples to be married in New Zealand and the beginning of a flood of gay Australians expected to travel across the Tasman to exchange vows.
Mr Kandler and Mr McCarthy say they are “excited” to finally be marrying the loves of their lives.
But when they say “I do” in front of their family and friends and a throng of media, they want Australians to be convinced to vote for politicians who will introduce the law back at home.
“Talk to your local candidates, find out what their view is, because this is a chance we have this year to make a difference,” Mr McCarthy said.
“We’re normal people, we live in this society … it would be very good if people thought we could be treated equally.”
Mr McCarthy said they were aware that when they returned home their Kiwi marriage would mean nothing – but after 11 years together, the opportunity to legally wed in New Zealand surrounded by family and friends was a beautiful moment for the pair.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has put same-sex marriage at the centre of the election debate and promised, if re-elected, to bring laws before Parliament to be voted on within 100 days of the election.
The proposal is a step forward for the campaign but will not provide the final blow, Australian Marriage Equality president Rodney Croome said.
However, there is enough support and legislation being drafted that will mean gay people should be allowed to marry at least somewhere in Australia “by the end of the year”, Mr Croome hoped.
“It’s impossible to say what the makeup of the next Parliament would be but I think we’re much closer to marriage equality than many people think,” he said.
“I think we are (close).”
Photo: Ann-Marie Calilhanna
Author: Kieran Campbell
Publication: news.com.au
Date: 18 August 2013