AUSTRALIA: Federal Court Rejects Challenge To Same-Sex Marriage Ban

An Australian federal court has rejected a challenge to the ban on same-sex marriage, saying that since both men and women are not allowed to marry each other, the ban does not constitute gender discrimination.

“A man cannot enter into the state of marriage as defined with another man just as a woman cannot enter into the state of marriage with another woman,” the judge wrote. “The redress for these circumstances lies in the political and not the legal arena.” In her ruling, Jagot upheld the Australian Human Rights Commission’s decision to terminate a complaint from Simon Margan, a gay rights activist who sought an order directing the states of New South Wales and Queensland to register same-sex marriages.

The judge concluded: "There cannot be discrimination by reason of the sex of a person because in all cases the treatment of the person of the opposite sex is the same."