CANBERRA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Legislation that will legalize same-sex marriage has been formally introduced into Australian parliament after a majority of the country voted to allow the practice.
More than 61 percent of 12.7 million respondents to the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey voted "yes" to allowing same-sex marriage, which was announced on Wednesday, paving the way for the bill to be introduced to the Senate on Thursday.
Dean Smith, an openly gay Senator representing the governing Liberal National Party (LNP), tabled the legislation that will change the definition of marriage under Australian law.
"(This vote) must be about advancing the hopes and dreams of all citizens, no matter their sexuality, ethnicity or religion," Smith said on Thursday.
"Yesterday we saw a glimpse of the country we all yearn for - a country that is fair-minded, generous and accepting."
"We saw a country that was willing to embrace its hopes rather than hold on to its fears."
The results of the postal survey has left a number of Members of Parliament (MPs) in the uncomfortable position of the wishes of their electorate not aligning with their own personal views.
Peter Dutton, Australia's Immigration Minister and opponent of same-sex marriage, on Thursday confirmed he would vote to pass the bill after his Queensland electorate of Dickson returned a 65.2 percent "yes" vote.
A number of other conservative government MPs who oppose the practice have previously said they would either abstain or vote in favour of the bill if their electorate voted "yes".
Ed Husic, the representative for Chifley where 58.7 percent of people voted "no," said his community would find a way to accommodate inclusiveness.
"There are a lot of socially conservative people in my area. I voted 'yes' because I thought it was an important step forward for the inclusive tradition we have in this country," Husic said.
"We have always accommodated millions of people who speak different languages, who wear different things and found a way to include people from all different walks of life."
