Australian Capital Territory legalises Same-Sex Marriage Tuesday Oct 22,2013

The Australian Capital Territory has become the first part of Australia to legalise same-sex marriage.

The ACT parliament passed a bill that will allow gay couples to marry, after a short debate on Tuesday Oct 22,2013
The move was passed in the 17-member ACT Legislative Assembly, backed by Labor and the Greens, with the Liberals voting against.
Celebrants will now be allowed to marry same-sex couples inside the ACT, regardless of which state they live in.

Note
1)Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who leads a Liberal-National coalition, opposes same-sex marriage

2)Last year, a bill allowing same-sex marriage was voted down in both houses of Australia's national parliament. 

3)In all, 13 nations around the world has legalized same-sex marriage as of Aug 2013.  They are -

• Netherlands
• Belgium
• Norway
• Sweden
• Denmark
• Spain
• Portugal
• Canada
• South Africa
• Argentina
• Iceland and 
• Uruguay
• New Zealand