A better leader could’ve done it without the expense of a national mail-in survey, but after more than 12 million responses — a turnout of nearly 80% — a whopping 62% of Australians voted to legalize same-sex marriage.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wasted no time in saying he would do everything in his power to make marriage equality a reality by the end of the year.

The people of Australia have spoken and I intend to make their wish the law of the land by Christmas. This is an overwhelming call for marriage equality. pic.twitter.com/PWZbH5H71r — Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) November 14, 2017

The Australian people have had their say, and they have voted overwhelmingly yes for marriage equality. They voted overwhelmingly for fairness, for commitment, for love, and now it’s our job, as the Australian Parliament, all of us here to get on with it and get this done before Christmas.

It’s a nice change of pace to see a legislature that (looks like it) will vote in favor of love and inclusivity instead of one whose primary goals are making access to health care more difficult for the poorest citizens and helping the rich pay even less in taxes.

Turnbull, who said he’d be open to certain amendments, will surely see some designed to let religious bigots discriminate against gay people. He should reject anything that allows such discrimination in public spaces. If conservative Christians want to be bigots, they should limit it to their own congregations instead of infesting the rest of us with their faith-based poison.

In any case, congratulations to Australia for getting popular support for this legislation, having a Prime Minister committed to getting it done, and showing the world that secular love can beat religious hate.

It sure as hell took long enough, and it shouldn’t have been this expensive, but at least the outcome was the right one.

