The Mass Same-Sex TV Wedding hosted on ABC TV program Adam Hills on Gordon St Tonight saw 45 same sex couples fly in from around Australia to celebrate their commitment to each other and marriage equality last month.
Four Perth women were amongst the couples to join the celebrations on Gordon St. Nicky McKimmie, who wed her partner Angela Gawthorne on the show told OUTinPerth that they decided to take part in the televised wedding as they thought,
‘it would be a very timely opportunity, given the legislation before Federal Parliament, to not only do something fun but also to show our support for marriage equality and celebrate our commitment to each other.’
After being together for eight years, Ms McKimmie and Ms Gawthorne had announced their engagement eight months ago and been discussing options for a ceremony that they felt appropriately recognised their relationship when the ABC put the call out for participants.
‘We know what we have, we already felt very much married as we’ve been planning our life together for several years anyway. But sharing that with family and friends I think is an important part of any ceremony, publicly acknowledging our relationship is what this process has allowed us to do. Obviously our friends and family weren’t with us but we received a lot of support and love from them going on national TV – you couldn’t get more public than that.
‘We feel very blessed by the beautiful messages of support that we’ve had, and been able to celebrate that as well as do something really positive for marriage equality at the same time. I believe the show conveyed to viewers that GLBTI people are as diverse as any other group, but what we have in common with each other and the general population is the desire to share our love and friendship with family and friends. And the sky won’t fall in when we do.’ Ms McKimmie said.
Image courtesy of ABC TV