Australians say 'yes' to same-sex marriage

Supporters of same-sex marriage in Sydney.
(Image credit: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

More than 12.7 million Australians participated in a voluntary postal survey asking if they support or oppose same-sex marriage, and a majority voted in favor of it, the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced Wednesday.

Of the votes cast, 61.6 percent were in support of same-sex marriage and 38.4 percent were opposed. Politicians are expected to start talking about a bill to legalize same-sex marriage as early as this week. "It is unequivocal, it is overwhelming," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said of the result. "They have spoken in their millions and they have voted overwhelmingly yes for marriage equality. They vote yes for fairness, yes for commitment, yes for love."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.