Australian voters approve gay marriage

FINALLY, after voting that lasted two months, November 15th brought a result. To the question “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?” almost 62% of Australians said yes; 38% said no. The Yes vote prevailed in all six of Australia’s states and its two main territories. Barely hiding a sense of relief, if not triumph, Malcolm Turnbull, the prime minister, called the result “overwhelming”. He promised that a parliamentary vote to legalise gay marriage would follow by Christmas.

At rallies around the country, supporters of change cheered the prospect. But the issue has long divided Mr Turnbull’s conservative Liberal Party. The Marriage Act originally left the meaning of marriage undefined. John Howard, a Liberal prime minister, had it amended in 2004 to specify “the union of a man and a woman”.