FIFTEEN gay and lesbian couples declared their love for one another today in a mass ceremony in Adelaide, drawing attention to Australia‘s "backward" same-sex marriage laws.
The ceremony, entitled Loved Up, was held as part of the state’s gay and lesbian cultural festival, Feast.
The 12 female couples and three male couples declared their love before hundreds of family and friends who gathered on the city’s Montefiore Hill.
The hour-long ceremony was performed by three celebrants.
Event organiser and participant, Daniel Clarke said it was a personal and political event for the participants.
"What we wanted to do as a festival was celebrate diverse love and put it out to the wider public so it can be recognised as equal to straight marriage,” Mr Clarke, the Feast Festival’s artistic director, said.
"Of course it’s political, but it’s a very personal day and it’s going to be a very, very moving day.”
Mr Clarke and his partner Nick Pelomis tied the knot last year in the UK, which allows same-sex partners to form civil partnerships, giving them the same rights as marriage.
"It’s just backward that it hasn’t happened here yet,” Mr Clarke said.
The couple chose to renew their vows today because very few family and friends were able to celebrate with them in the UK.