First Australian gay couples to legally marry

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA:  A state lawmaker and his partner plan to fly 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) across Australia to become one of the nation's first same-sex couples to legally marry at an after-midnight ceremony in the Australian capital.

Stephen Dawson, a 38-year-old member of the opposition Labor Party in the Western Australian Parliament, and partner Dennis Liddelow, 39, are among at least two gay couples planning ceremonies in Canberra at 12:01 a.m. Saturday — the earliest opportunity under the provincial government's landmark gay marriage laws.