Newly-wed gay couples in Australia have had their marriages annulled after the High Court struck down a law to allow same-sex unions.
The federal government challenged a law passed by the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in October that permitted gay marriages. The law came into effect last Saturday and 27 couples have been married since then.
The federal government said confusion would be caused by having different marriage laws in each state and the High Court ruled that the ACT law could not operate in conjunction with the federal Marriage Act which was amended in 2004 to define marriage as between “a man and a woman”.
“The Marriage Act does not now provide for the formation or recognition of marriage between same-sex couples,” the court said in a statement. Rodney Croome, national director of advocacy group Australian Marriage Equality, said: “Marriage equality is not about protest or politics or even about laws in the constitution. Marriage equality is about love, commitment, family and fairness.”
Australian prime minister Tony Abbott opposes gay marriage and his coalition blocked two federal bills last year that would have allowed legal recognition of same-sex partnerships.
Yesterday, India’s Supreme Court upheld a law which criminalises gay sex, reversing a 2009 High Court ruling in Delhi which abolished a 153-year-old law making homosexual acts punishable by a 10-year jail term.
