ACT’S ALP Branch members have voted in support of gay marriage.

At the annual ACT ALP Branch Conference, on Saturday, around 90 per cent of delegates voted in favour for the legal right of all adult couples, regardless of sexual orientation or gender, in Australia to be married, and for the marriage to be recognised and registered by law.

Other resolutions included: “Conference acknowledges that civil unions of same sex couples do not deliver the same legal security and social recognition as marriage and that a relationship recognition scheme that is separate from marriage would continue to make members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer community second-class citizens.

“Conference calls upon the ALP National Conference to reject any motion to adopt a civil union scheme as a substitution for the rights of all adult couples, irrespective of sexual orientation or gender identity, to access marriage.

“Conference calls for any parliamentary vote on same sex marriage to be taken as a binding vote for members of the federal parliamentary party, and that there not be a conscience vote on this issue.”

ACT Deputy Chief Minister and spokesman for the Australian Rainbow Labor Network, Andrew Barr said he welcomed the strong support of the ACT Branch and acknowledged the Branch’s long?standing record of support for fairness, equality and human rights.

“Marriage equality is about giving every Australian citizen the same rights,” Mr Barr said. “At the moment gay and lesbian people have lesser rights. ACT Labor members have recognised this unfairness and they have voted for change.”

Mr Barr said ACT Branch members had rejected a civil union scheme because it would not achieve equality for GLBTI people and would continue to see us as second?class citizens.

The Australian Rainbow Labor Network is a coalition of the respective State and Territory Rainbow Labor organisations, established to promote gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex equality within the Australian Labor Party and to promote progressive policy debate within the ALP to the Australian GLBTI community.