You won't have heard of Sue Boyce. But every one of us should know her name.

Chances are you haven’t heard of Sue Boyce but after what she did last night, every one of us should know her name.

Yesterday evening, the Senate voted on a Bill which would see Australian law recognise same-sex marriages of our citizens that are performed overseas. The law wouldn’t permit same-sex marriage to happen here in Australia.

What it would do is allow gay and lesbian Australian couples who can legally marry in the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Spain, South Africa, Iceland and much of the USA, to have their unions validated when they return home.

The Bill was never going to pass…

The Greens are in favour of same sex marriage. The Labor Party have permitted a ‘conscience’ vote amongst their members, which basically means they can make up their own minds. And the Liberal/National Coalition are requiring their members to vote against any bill that opens the door to Australian same-sex marriages. So the votes simply weren’t there for this Bill to stand a chance.

And yet somehow, that makes what Senator Sue Boyce did, all the more admirable.

Boyce is a soon-to-be-retiring member of the Liberal Party who supports same sex marriage. And she supports it in the face of some pretty widespread opposition from her fellow party members (although, there are some notable same-sex marriage supporters amongst Liberal MPs in the House of Representatives).

Last night Senator Boyce broke ranks with her own party, defied their agreement to vote against the bill, and crossed the floor. She is the first member of the government to do so. And while it’s a small step along the path to marriage equality in Australia, it is an important one nonetheless.

Senator Boyce spoke to Fairfax Media about just how significant the decision to cross the floor and vote against your party’s agreed position is:  ”It’s an awful feeling, it’s not something you want to do,” she said.

“There is a lot of camaraderie, we are good colleagues. It’s an awful feeling but I just think it’s important enough that we get this piece of legislation through.”

As a politician who has been in the parliament for seven years now, Senator Boyce would have voted on hundreds of bills. Some have been successful in becoming Australian law. Some, like this one, have not.

This is the first time Senator Boyce has voted against the stated position of her party. We thank Senator Boyce for having the courage of her convictions and agree that accepting all love as equal is one issue that is most definitely ‘important enough’.

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