Gay Ceremonies

Subsection 5(1) of the Marriage Act 1961 defines marriage as ‘...the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.’ Accordingly, it is not possible for same-sex couples to marry under Australian law and same-sex marriages entered into under the laws of another country are also not recognised in Australia. It is not illegal to conduct a commitment ceremony for same-sex couples, though, provided that ceremony does not purport to be a legal marriage. There is no reason why a Queer Commitment Ceremony can't be as elegant and as formal, celebrating the couple's love as any legal wedding ceremony for the heterosexual scene. And because we're not bound to follow the strict formalities of a legal straight ceremony, we have more poetic license to celebrate this union in any way we like accoding to your wishes. I am a queer-friendly celebrant I have been involved socially in the queer community for many years and I recently came back from San Francisco going there earlier this year for the Gay Pride Festival while same sex marriages were legal in California until very recently.
I am also a Same Sex Marriage activist and look forward to Australia reforming the Marriage Act to include Same sex marriages and hopefully even one day formally recognising the legalised union of polyamorous unions where there may be more than two people within the relationship. Queer in my definition encompasses Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex relationships and I have been involved in the celebration of these relationships in a range of colourful, beautiful ceremonies for members of the communities. I'm also BDSM friendly and also have done commitments for Polyamorous unions between more than two people.
Transgender couples can legally marry as long as one or both is post-operative in their assigned gender which is opposite gender to the person they are marrying. Pre-operative transgender people are still legally recognised as the gender into which they were born until the post operative gender reassignment is finalised. Please contact me for more information if you need clarification regarding the Marriage Act or if you'd like to discuss the design of your own Queer Commitment Ceremony. I look forward to creating a special day for you that will celebrate your special love with all the frills, poems, readings and music that you'd like to include on the day.