Ron Hughes, MCV 25 May 2010

Almost 5,000 people turned out to rally for same-sex marriage on Saturday, May 15. The National Day of Action saw rallies in all the major capitals with Melbourne’s by far the largest.

Sir Ian McKellen – accompanied by the director and co-stars of Waiting for Godot – addressed the crowd before handing a petition of 100,000 signatures to the Greens’ sexuality spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

Phoebe Kelloway, Queer Officer of the National Union of Students said Hanson-Young literally struggled under the weight of the petitions handed to her.

Messages of support from Sir Ian McKellen and Dannii Minogue

Across Australia on 15 May 2010, five thousand people took to the streets to show support for equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex Australians.

The cast and director of Waiting for Godot – Sir Ian McKellen [pictured, holding petition with 100,000 signatures], Rodger Rees, Matthew Kelly and Sean Mathais – attended the Melbourne rally in person voicing their support for Equal Marriage laws.

In a pre-recorded message for the other rallies across the country Sir Ian McKellen spoke about the need for federal anti-discrimination laws and marriage equality. Sir Ian’s message explained how coming out 25 years ago his life “changed for the better”.

Star comedians come out in support of same sex marriage to help raise funds for the campaign for equal rights.

[photo: Josh Thomas, from Channel Ten's Talkin' 'bout your Generation]

Read on here.

Every time Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott and other national leaders insist that marriage should only be between a man and a woman, that gay and lesbian men and women are to be forever excluded from this most basic of social institutions, they send a message of support to those who hate homosexuals and wish them harm.

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I HAD been expecting it - it would have been naive of me not to - but when it happened, it sent me reeling.

I was reading a bedtime story to Corin, my seven-year-old son, when he came out with it, no warning, no context, just a bald statement: ''When I say I have two mums at school, some kids tease me.''

Melbourne’s annual LGBTI Pride Festival was noticeable this year for the overwhelming enthusiasm for Equal Love’s campaign against the government’s same-sex marriage ban. In an event struggling to have a clear message and meaning, reflected in a marked drop in the number of participants and spectators overall, Equal Love’s campaign stood out with our strong message of “Equal love, equal rights, same-sex marriage now!”