Tony Abbott‘s sister Christine Forster has finally married her partner of 10 years, Virginia Edwards, in Sydney today.
The long-awaited marriage comes after Forster’s active involvement in the campaign for marriage equality – much to the consternation of her brother, whose main mission in life over the past few years seems to have been to make things as difficult as possible for the LGBTQ community.
It’s official! @surryhillsgal and I have lodged our Notice of Intent to Marry #Excited #LoveIsLove #MarriageEquality #auspol pic.twitter.com/O08mmI6ckX
— Christine Forster (@resourcefultype) December 15, 2017
Despite all the nastiness surrounding the postal vote and subsequent legalisation of same-sex marriage, Forster and Edwards very kindly invited Abbott to attend their wedding. And he did.
And he wasn’t mad about it! Heavens, no. In fact he was “thrilled”, according to News.com.au.
“I’m looking forward to having a new sister-in-law,” he told press before the event. Mm-hmm. He looks ecstatic:
Married!!! Marriage has alway been about family ultimately – congrats to the fab @resourcefultype and @surryhillsgal (Christine and Virginia!) #australiarocks pic.twitter.com/Xz1OyG3JvV
— Tiernan Brady (@Tiernanbrady) February 2, 2018
Forster, who’s a Sydney Liberal councillor, and Edwards (who’s now changing her surname back to her maiden name, Flitcroft) have been engaged for four years. After marriage equality passed, they agreed to get hitched ASAP – and have decided to share their wedding with the whole country, via the next episode of the ABC‘s Australian Story.
They reportedly told the program that being able to finally get married meant “everything” to them.
“On a personal level it means now I can marry this woman I’ve treasured for ten years, on Australian soil, hopefully, under Australian law… in front of my friends and family,” Virginia said, with Christine adding, “Kids of that age can know they have the same opportunities, the same future, the same rights, the same equality under the law that everybody else does.”
We wish them all the happiness in the world.
