Gay and lesbian couples will take to the street this weekend to protest the 2004 same-sex marriage ban.

The 4th annual Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby (VGLRL) Equal Love Rally and Mid-winta Vows will take place this Sunday, commencing at the State Library at 1pm.

VGLRL co-convener, Stephen Jones said the rally is taking place earlier than the usual August 13 anniversary due to the saturation media coverage of the Olympics expected at that time.

“Gay and Lesbian Melbourne have enthusiastically supported the event over the last four years, and we expect a decent turnout again this time,” Jones said.

“We’ve had dozens of couples participating in Mid-winta vows each year, and we expect most of them will return to celebrate their love in front of their community.”

Demetra Giannakopoulous, VGLRL co-convenor added: “While we’re pleased we have won some recognition with the imminent Victorian relationships register, same-sex love is still not recognised by the federal government.”

Monty Marshall, who recently got married twice to his partner of three years says, “We wanted to have a formal way of show the seriousness of our relationship”.

“My partner is from the UK, so the first time [we married] was at the British Consulate-General. That provides us with legal recognition in some parts of the world, such as being next of kin, and that was important to us.

“The following week we had a traditional Javanese wedding in Java.”

Marshall said he hoped “things in Australia would change in time, and more rights would be given to gay couples”.

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