Australian gay politician travels to Spain in order to marry partner

A gay Australian politician and his partner were married in Spain on Wednesday after flying halfway around the world to skirt Australia’s laws banning marriage equality.

Ian Hunter told the French Press Agency that he and his partner Leith Semmens got hitched in June, a small Spanish town near Granada.

Mr Hunter is the social inclusion minister in the state government of South Australia.

June’s mayor, Jose Antonio Rodriguez Salas, a vocal supporter of equal marriage – helped the couple settle the complicated paperwork necessary to marry in Spain.

Last month, Spain’s Constitutional Court upheld the country’s seven-year-long equal marriage law following an appeal by the country’s ruling conservative party.

In September, Australia’s Parliament voted down a proposed equal marriage bill.

The country’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard has staunchly opposed supporting marriage rights for gay couples.

• Dec 01 2023

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