Rallies will take place nationally this Saturday (November 28) to put pressure on the Federal Government to legislate for same-sex marriage. The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee is expected to hand down its landmark report on marriage equality two days earlier. The inquiry received more than 30,000 public submissions, making it the largest in Australian parliamentary history. The rallies will also call on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd not to veto the new ACT civil union ceremonies law.

In a statement released today, Equal Love congratulated the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party for adopting a motion this weekend expressing its unequivocal support for Federal same-sex marriage. This provides further proof that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is out of touch with his rank and file. He is also out of touch with the Australian public on this issue. Only 36% of Australians believe that marriage should remain an exclusively heterosexual institution, according to a Galaxy poll conducted last June. Yesterday The Age newspaper editorialised in favour of marriage equality – the first major Australian newspaper to do so.

The rallies this Saturday are expected to attract several thousand people. They aim to mobilise support for the cause in the lead-up to next year’s federal election, around which a series of pro-marriage equality actions are planned. The year 2010 has been designated the Year of Action for Same-Sex Marriage.

Same-Sex Marriage rally times and locations are as follows:
Melbourne – 1pm, State Library
Sydney – 1pm, Sydney Town Hall
Adelaide – 11am, Parliament House
Canberra – 1pm, Garema Place, Civic
Brisbane – 1pm, Queens Park, City
Perth – 2pm, Outside London Court