Commitment

Sheldon and I had a party in London a few weeks ago. We spent a long time, months in fact, deciding the purpose for this party. The party was meant to be a farewell party - we were due to leave the UK some time in early June. We decided that, whilst we had all of our UK "family" at this event, that we would take the opportunity to "commit" to each other as a couple.

Many friends asked why we did not get "married" in a UK Civil Union? The reason we decided against a UK civil union was because the Australian Government had introduced an amendment to the definition of marriage that ensured that no same sex partnerships registered in other countries would NOT be recognized in Australia.

"Marriage means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life unions are not marriages. A union solemnest in a foreign country between: (a) a man and another man; or (b) a woman and another woman; must not be recognized as a marriage in Australia."


Therefore getting married in the UK seemed pointless seeing as we are weeks away from becoming moving to Australia and applying for Sheldon's residency as my "interdependent partner" - defined by the Australian Government as a same sex couple having "a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of any spouse relationships or any other interdependent relationships" I am not sure what the difference between marriage and an interdependent relationship is - but to me they pretty much look the same. Why are the Australian people afraid to say they are the same?

See this goup which I support in overturning the Liberal Governements ammendment:

http://www.australianmarriageequality.com/

I digress somewhat . . .

The commitment party ended up being a very successful, enjoyable and emotional evening. Nothing legal happened apart from standing up in front of our family and friends and promising to love and care for each other as we grow over our lives together. We gave each other a simple white gold band as a symbol of that promise.

The event will also serve as a great reminder of the friends that we have made in the UK and that we shall not forget them - nor it seems will they let us forget them as many have already stated that they will make the long journey across the world to see us . . .even though they may be staying in a tent.

I will post some pictures up of the event for you all to see and also post the speech I made at the time to explain to our friends the meaning of the event.

Cheers

Nick