Wedding party turns out for gay marriage

Today is a sparkling day for a wedding. Late August has pulled out all the stops, with sunshine, warm air and general feelings of spring-ness brushing the winter mould away.

In fact, Saturday is such a specimen of wedding-weather nirvana that dozens of couples turned up, dressed to the tens in bridal veils and groom-al top hats, at the Riff Raff statue in Hamilton’s CBD this morning.

They gathered to show support for Legalise Love Waikato’s campaign for politicians to consider Labour MP Louisa Wall’s Marriage Amendment Bill, which is being decided by Parliament later this month.

Participants took part in a symbolic “first dance” and “cutting of the cake” ceremony after listening to a short speech by event organisers Natalie Hemmings and Stewart Putwain.

Mr Putwain described the importance of legalising gay marriage and explained why compromise solutions are not adequate.

“Civil unions are exclusive, as they are not recognised abroad…The time has come to acknowledge ALL our rights.”

Mr Putwain, who is married to his wife Victoria, said that gay marriage is not a “gay” issue, but a human rights issue.

Couples danced to The Dixie Cups’ classic, Chapel of Love, before toasting over sparkling grape juice and cake. Volunteers circulated a petition to be sent to MPs, asking them to support Louisa Wall’s Marriage Amendment Bill.

Angela Wasley and Del Stewart were two who came to add their signatures to the petition.

“We came to support Legalise Love,” said Stewart, who explained that today is about equality and fairness.

Murray Riches also attended, saying that whether individuals want to get married is beside the point.

“I guess the motivation for me [to come today] isn’t so much because I want to get married – but to show support for equal rights.”