Kaitlin Maree Photography
In July of this year, a loved-up couple had the best day of their lives: their wedding.
The difference? This couple happens to be same-sex, and they also happen to live in Australia – where, despite many across the country campaigning for it, and the current postal vote, same-sex marriage still isn’t legal.
Alee proposed to Carly in 2015 and while it was beautiful and special – their son, Oakland, was wearing a shirt saying ‘Will you marry my other mum?’ – for them, it felt like a sort of “empty promise.”
“I feel like a second-class citizen in my own country. I don’t understand how we can be such a young and new country and have such outdated ideals,” Carly says of marriage equality still not being legal in Australia.
For them, as it is for many other same-sex couples, marrying isn’t just about being in love: it’s about securing their futures, especially now that they share a son.
Carly and Alee are the first couple in the country to ‘marry’ under the ‘Evermore Pledge’, a legal package which allows same-sex couples a lot of the same, important rights as a married couple would have.
While it can’t legally be called a marriage under the Marriage Act, Carly and Alee now have a binding financial agreement that protects them in the event of an emergency, which covers wills, power of attorney, beneficiaries, superannuation and, most importantly, gives them peace of mind about Oakland’s future.
“For us, it wasn’t the logical next step to being in love,” Carly, who has a blog about her family and IVF, explains.
“It was about securing our futures, especially now that we have a child together. How do we go about making it legal so that we’re both protected in the event that one of us gets sick or dies?”
For both Alee and Carly’s parents, the wedding meant a lot more than just ensuring their daughters are protected in the event of an emergency.
“Both of our parents thought that their children getting married wasn’t something they were going to see in their lifetimes.”
“So for us to be able to share that with them was super meaningful, they were a mess. My mum couldn’t stop crying,” Carly says.
“We were so focused on the legal side of things – and spent hours Skyping the lawyers back and forth – that the ceremony was our last thought.”
“But when we got there we were just blown away, it was the most beautiful evening and so much more emotional than we’d expected.”
“To have Oakland be a part of it was really special.”
Carly says that if marriage equality were to be introduced to Australia tomorrow – and if the postal vote is a ‘Yes’ vote, of course, they would be over the moon. But now that happiness would be more for other same-sex couples than themselves.
“Absolutely, I want marriage equality, but now that we’ve got this, when Australia finally gets marriage equality I feel like sort of saying ‘F you, it’s too late, guys.'”
RELATED: I’m Getting Married Next Month – And I Have Just One Question For The ‘No’ Campaigners
RELATED: The Postal Survey Is Taking A Heavy Toll On Young LGBT Australians
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
