For Australian women’s football pioneer and Matildas legend Cheryl Salisbury, it is great to finally feel equal.
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Salisbury, 43, and her partner Chelle, 39, have been together for four years and would like to marry in the future.
“Chelle asked me one day and I said ‘Yes’, but I was of the opinion that if I was going to do it I’m only going to do it once,” Salisbury said.
“That’s a personal opinion. I didn’t want to have a ceremony and for it not to be legal. I didn’t want to go to the US or New Zealand and do it then come back and not have those legal things here.”
Salisbury listened to the same-sex marriage survey result announcement on the radio before starting work on Wednesday and was thrilled the vote was overwhelmingly ‘Yes’.
“It’s pretty exciting and it’s nice to know that it was by far a majority,” she said.
“I think if it would have been a closer result then there would have been excuses but they can’t ignore it any more.
“There’s a lot of families out there that will be treated as equal now. I’m treated equal now in the eyes of other people. The majority of people have said I’m equal.”
Salisbury has always felt comfortable on the football field.
An imposing centre-back, the Lambton Jaffas junior led the Matildas to two Olympic games, including an historic first appearance in Sydney, and played at four World Cups.
She holds the record for most national-team caps with 151, was for a long period the country’s all-time leading scorer and in September became the first woman to receive the Alex Tobin Medal at the Professional Footballers Australia Players’ Awards.
But she has not always felt comfortable talking about her personal life in public.
“It’s changed over the years and it’s certainly become more easy to be able to go out and hold your partner’s hand and talk about your partner and not be worried about saying, ‘Her’,” Salisbury said.
“So those things have been easier and more accepted and from the vast majority of society it’s more accepted and anyone who might have a problem with it, they’re few and far between.”
The fact nearly 80 per cent of people returned their same-sex marriage survey was also not lost on Salisbury.
“It shows most people care then,” she said.
“I’m sure nearly everyone knows someone, whether it’s a friend or a relative or a friend of a friend and they’re all just people.
“They’re school teachers, they’re doctors, they’re lawyers, they’re accountants. They’re people who work at fast food outlets, people who save your life. We come in all forms and from all walks of life and we’re all important.”
