The City Of Sydney Has Promised Free Gay Weddings If We Get Marriage Equality

While we won’t know the outcome of the ridiculous postal survey for a few more weeks, the City of Sydney has decided get out on the right foot, announcing that it will hire out council venues for same-sex weddings free of charge in the event that marriage equality becomes law.

The Sydney council passed a motion on Monday night that will allow same-sex couples to hire a number of community facilities, halls and parks without paying for the first 100 days that marriage equality is legal. The Sydney Town Hall will also be made available for a mass wedding ceremony.

The motion was put forward by Labor councillor Linda Scott, and supported by Lord Mayor Clover Moore. It comes after the Inner West council passed a similar motion last month.

“This community has suffered significant discrimination and many have felt hurt during the campaign,” Scott told Fairfax Media. “This is a practical way for the council to combat discrimination.”

Meanwhile, Moore tweeted that the reason she backed the decision was to make up for the fact that same-sex couples have been denied the right to marry for so long.

Free venue hire will not be made available to straight couples, which has predictably caused some people to cry foul about “reverse discrimination”. Still, in times like these, it’s best to ignore the haters and just enjoy the fact that the people in charge decided to do a nice thing.

It’s far from a given that we’ll get a YES ? vote for #marriageequality so it’s incredibly important to #postyouryes before Friday

— Clover Moore (@CloverMoore) October 23, 2017

But if YES ? then we will provide city spaces free for 100 days to welcome same-sex couples to civil marriage #marriageequality #postyouryes

— Clover Moore (@CloverMoore) October 23, 2017

The reason we need to provide this welcome is because same sex couples have been denied marriage for so long #marriageequality #postyouryes

— Clover Moore (@CloverMoore) October 23, 2017

If you haven’t already voted in the marriage equality postal survey, it’s time to get your skates on. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has urged all eligible voters to mail their marriage equality ballots by Friday, October 27 to ensure that their vote is counted.

The results will be made public on November 15, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pledging to legislate on the issue by the end of the parliamentary year on December 7.

A Christmas wedding does sound kind of nice, doesn’t it? Even better if it’s free.

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h/t Fairfax. Feature image via Sydney Town Hall