After a grueling two-month mail-in vote, the results of Australia's survey on marriage equality were finally announced at 10 a.m. (AEDT) on Nov. 15, 2017. If the Yes campaign won, Australia would take a giant step toward marriage equality. If No won, the status quo would remain.
The stakes couldn't have been any higher.
As nerves built, Aussies gathered in Melbourne to hear the vote tallies.
When the results were announced, giving the Yes campaign its resounding victory, pure joy erupted in the streets.
The historic, powerful moment was caught on video by opposition leader and LGBTQ rights supporter Bill Shorten. For millions of LGBTQ Australians, lives will be forever changed after the vote.
Here are 15 powerful photos from this remarkable moment in history:
1. With an overwhelming margin of victory, Yes votes won the mail-in survey with 61.6% of the vote.
Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images.
2. There were lots of smiles — and tears.
Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images.
3. And even more (rainbow-colored) confetti.
Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images.
The results fell in line with public polling that has consistently showed a large majority of Australians supporting marriage equality. "This is our proudest moment as gay and lesbian Australians," Chris Lewis, a 60-year-old artist from Sydney, told The New York Times. "Finally I can be proud of my country."
Despite some nervous jitters among some Yes campaign officials in recent days, the end results were nowhere near close.
4. Yes votes won in all six of Australia's individual states and territories.
Even in the more conservative ones.
Photo by Cole Bennetts/Getty Images.
5. "It was not just about us," said Yes supporter Annika Lowry. "It’s for our kids, so that they know equality is important."
Photo by Cole Bennetts/Getty Images.
6. Having your humanity debated via survey doesn't feel all that great, as many Australians could tell you.
Photo by James Alcock/Getty Images.
7. But after exhausting years of debate, knowing that most of your country has your back has got to be a good feeling.
Photo by Cole Bennetts/Getty Images.
Yes supporters have much reason to celebrate, of course. But there's an important catch. The survey was just that — a survey. It won't result in any actual change to the law ... quite yet.
Parliament will use the vote, which was processed through the Australian Bureau of Statistics, as a gauge of public sentiment on the issue preceding a parliamentary vote before the end of the year.
Considering the wide margin of victory and high participation — a whopping 79.5% of eligible voters submitting a Yes or No vote! — Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said a vote on marriage equality should be decided by Christmas.
8. For many, that moment can't come soon enough.
Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images.
9. Australia is among the last westernized countries in the world to make marriage equality the law of the land.
Photo by William West/AFP/Getty Images.
10. For years, the issue has hit partisan roadblocks in parliament despite marriage equality's widespread popularity.
Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images.
11. Finally, though, the spark for true change has been lit.
Photo by Cole Bennetts/Getty Images.
And it definitely won't be extinguished now.
12. "This all happened because of you," the Yes campaign told supporters. "We did this together."
Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images.
13. "You shouldn't have had to put up with this survey but you embraced it," Shorten told the LGBTQ community.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images.
"I feel for young people who have had their relationships questioned in a way in which I wouldn't have thought we would have seen ever again," he said. However, "unconditional love always has the last word."
Ain't that the truth?
14. No one should forget that Australians sent a resounding, joyful message to the rest of the world on Nov. 15.
Photo by William West/AFP/Getty Images.
15. That love is love is love.
Photo by Cole Bennetts/Getty Images.
And it doesn't matter which hemisphere you're in either. 🌈






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Resurfaced video of French skier's groin incident has people giving the announcer a gold medal
"The boys took a beating on that one."
Downhill skiing is a sport rife with injuries, but not usually this kind.
A good commentator can make all the difference when watching sports, even when an event goes smoothly. But it's when something goes wrong that great announcers rise to the top. There's no better example of a great announcer in a surprise moment than when French skier Yannick Bertrand took a gate to the groin in a 2007 super-G race.
Competitive skiers fly down runs at incredible speeds, often exceeding 60 mph. Hitting something hard at that speed would definitely hurt, but hitting something hard with a particularly sensitive part of your body would be excruciating. So when Bertrand slammed right into a gate family-jewels-first, his high-pitched scream was unsurprising. What was surprising was the perfect commentary that immediately followed.
This is a clip you really just have to see and hear to fully appreciate:
- YouTube youtu.be
It's unclear who the announcer is, even after multiple Google inquiries, which is unfortunate because that gentleman deserves a medal. The commentary gets better with each repeated viewing, with highlights like:
"The gate the groin for Yannick Bertrand, and you could hear it. And if you're a man, you could feel it."
"Oh, the Frenchman. Oh-ho, monsieurrrrrr."
"The boys took a beating on that one."
"That guy needs a hug."
"Those are the moments that change your life if you're a man, I tell you what."
"When you crash through a gate, when you do it at high rate of speed, it's gonna hurt and it's going to leave a mark in most cases. And in this particular case, not the area where you want to leave a mark."
Imagine watching a man take a hit to the privates at 60 mph and having to make impromptu commentary straddling the line between professionalism and acknowledging the universal reality of what just happened. There are certain things you can't say on network television that you might feel compelled to say. There's a visceral element to this scenario that could easily be taken too far in the commentary, and the inherent humor element could be seen as insensitive and offensive if not handled just right.
The announcer nailed it. 10/10. No notes.
The clip frequently resurfaces during the Winter Olympic Games, though the incident didn't happen during an Olympic event. Yannick Bertrand was competing at the FIS World Cup super-G race in Kvitfjell, Norway in 2007, when the unfortunate accident occurred. Bertrand had competed at the Turin Olympics the year before, however, coming in 24th in the downhill and super-G events.
As painful as the gate to the groin clearly as, Bertrand did not appear to suffer any damage that kept him from the sport. In fact, he continued competing in international downhill and super-G races until 2014.
According to a 2018 study, Alpine skiing is a notoriously dangerous sport with a reported injury rate of 36.7 per 100 World Cup athletes per season. Of course, it's the knees and not the coin purse that are the most common casualty of ski racing, which we saw clearly in U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn's harrowing experiences at the 2026 Olympics. Vonn was competing with a torn ACL and ended up being helicoptered off of the mountain after an ugly crash that did additional damage to her legs, requiring multiple surgeries (though what caused the crash was reportedly unrelated to her ACL tear). Still, she says she has no regrets.
As Bertrand's return to the slopes shows, the risk of injury doesn't stop those who live for the thrill of victory, even when the agony of defeat hits them right in the rocks.