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Australians have finally voted in favour of same-sex marriage after more than 10 years of divisive debate.
Almost 62 percent of the 12.7 million people who participated voted “yes” to the question “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?”
Just 38.4 percent voted “no”, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which carried out the poll.
According to AFP, thousands of marriage equality supporters took to parks and squares across the vast continent, hugging, dancing and singing under clouds of glitter when the results of the two-month-long postal survey were announced.
READ: Former Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbot, assaulted for opposing same-sex marriage
“This means everything, this means everything,” shouted Chris at a huge rally in Sydney, fighting back tears and hugging his partner Victor.
“It has been fantastic. I have been with my partner for 35 years and he was so joyed up that he burst into tears,” added another reveller, Gerry Boller.
Irish-born Qantas Airlines chief Alan Joyce, who is openly gay and campaigned strongly for the “yes” campaign, also fought back tears as he spoke of his delight.
“I was so proud of Ireland in May 2015 when they became the first nation in the world to vote for marriage equality… But today I am even more proud of Australia, the country of my selection,” he said in Sydney.