My marriage dissolved in a puff of cloud somewhere high in the sky between New Zealand and Australia.

Exactly where, I’m not sure. Possibly between the seatbelt lights being switched off and lunch being trolleyed down the aisles.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we will now be serving a light lunch to our premium economy passengers … and same-sex newlyweds, please remember to stow your wedding rings securely in the overhead lockers ahead of your arrival in Australia.”

Nonetheless, my wife and I celebrated our six-month anniversary on Saturday. Because while the laws of this land fail to recognise that our wedding across the Tasman ever happened, it was certainly real for us and the 44 family and friends who joined our celebration.

We also have an official marriage certificate issued by the New Zealand Government to prove it.

It feels strange to look at that document and know that, due to a mean-spirited piece of Australian legislation, our commitment is not recognised in the country where we live. I’m also flummoxed when I have to fill out an official document that requires a tick in a box declaring marital status: does the government want me to lie and say I’m not married?

The debate over marriage equality has been simmering away for some years, but now it has reached boiling point – thanks largely to the Irish public voting last month to legalise same-sex marriage.

Australian politicians who were previously dozing on the job suddenly woke up and smelled the Guinness.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten announced he would introduce a private member’s bill designed to legalise same-sex marriage.

The Bill – which was presented this morning, with debate promptly adjourned – proposes replacing the words “man and woman” in Australia’s Marriage Act with “two people”. Same-sex couples who have already married overseas would also have their unions recognised under the proposed change.

Shorten’s move has dramatically ramped up the debate.

Yet while it’s created a wave of optimism among marriage equality supporters, the Labor leader has also been accused of “hijacking” the debate and jeopardising the chances of success by pre-empting the Liberal Party’s decision on whether to allow a conscience vote on the bill.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott declared last week that the issue was too important to be “owned” by one party – despite having shown no previous desire to own anything to do with marriage equality except his opinion that it shouldn’t happen.

Even if Shorten’s Bill fails, there is already talk of a bipartisan of even tri-partisan process.

The tide has turned – and if any further evidence was needed, it came when usually conservative broadcaster Alan Jones spoke on air in favour of legalising marriage equality. Perhaps the ice age cometh, because I find myself compelled to quote him:

“The reality is this: in a very difficult world, which is often impersonal, uncaring, ruthless and sometimes brutal in personal relationships, love can prove elusive. 

“And my view is that when people find love they should be able to celebrate it. And they shouldn’t be discriminated against according to the nature of that love.”

Frankly, those of us in the eye of the storm care little about political point scoring and prevaricating. We just want it to happen.

Both major political parties have previously failed to lead the way for change; they left that to the Greens. But now all Australians and their political representatives have an opportunity to show that they value human rights and equality.

If you’re still not convinced marriage equality is a good idea – and you’ve managed to read this far without skipping straight to the comments to vent your spleen about “tradition”, “Adam and Eve” and “mixed-up children” – then here are a few points to consider:

• Gay and lesbian couples want the same things from marriage as heterosexual couples. We want to publicly express our love and commitment in a ceremony which legally recognises our relationships as the equal of all others. That is all.
• Equality will not destroy the “sanctity” of marriage. If anything, a more inclusive definition of marriage will give it increased relevance in the 21^st century. Save your high dudgeon for reality-television shows such as Married at First Sight.
• Kids: some of us want them, some of us don’t. Some of us have them, some of us don’t. Marriage equality won’t change that fact. What it will do is help ensure our families are valued by society – and this can only be good for children. The most important thing for any child is not to have both a mother and father, but to be loved and wanted.
• Most gay and lesbian people are just as desirous of long-term love as heterosexuals, and many have been in committed relationships for decades, yet are still denied the right to marry. One of the stars of yesterday’s marriage equality rally in Sydney was 87-year-old former Catholic priest John Challis, who said he had been with his partner Arthur Cheeseman for nearly 50 years. But the law deems his relationship less significant than that of two horny heterosexual teenagers.

Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek’s rally cry to that same gathering was borrowed from former prime minister Gough Whitlam: It’s time.

In fact, it’s beyond time.

More than half our wedding guests travelled from Australia to New Zealand for our celebration because we were tired of waiting for change in this country. They spent three days celebrating with us; laughing, crying and dancing under disco lights to a little too much Jackson Five.

It felt good to be in a place where our relationship was considered the equal of all others.

If Australia catches up with New Zealand, Ireland, the UK, Canada and the 16 other countries that have now introduced marriage equality, we’ll have added reason to celebrate when our first anniversary comes around in November.

Now is the time for all supporters of this change – especially progressive Christians and others whose voices have previously been drowned out by vocal ultra-conservative groups – to make their views known to the Government.

Don’t let the momentum be lost.

 Suzie Keen is InDaily’s features editor.