Ellen DeGeneres shares powerful message as Australia votes on same-sex marriage
Ellen with her wife, Portia de Rossi
Chat show host Ellen DeGeneres has come out in support of marriage equality for Australia.
The American took to Twitter to urge Australians to back the ‘yes’ side in the vote.
Ellen shared the message alongside a photo of her and and wife Portia de Rossi, who is Australian.
Writing to her 73.5million followers, Ellen said: “I appreciate my wife every day. I can’t imagine calling her anything else.”
She dded the hashtags: “#WifeAppreciationDay #AustraliaMarriageEquality #VoteYes”
It’s not the first time Ellen has weighed in on the Australian marriage plebiscite decision.
Last week she shared the question facing Australians, followed by her choice.
“Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?” Yes, it should. (Let’s do this, Australia.)”
The message has been shared some 10,000 times.
Voting is now underway on equal marriage in Australia, with the first ballots mailed out last week.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull opted to put the issue of same-sex marriage to the people in a contentious and controversial public vote.
The public vote, which is non-binding and advisory in nature, has no legal power – but the result will likely be taken into consideration by the country’s lawmakers.
Ballots will continue to be sent out to registered voters in the coming days and weeks.
(Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
The ballot paper will read: “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?”
Polling shows that the Yes campaign has a healthy lead in the vote.
The deadline for the return of ballots is November 7, giving a voting period of nearly two months.
The result of the ballot will be announced at the end of November.
