IT LOOKS like the Irish are leading the way on the issue of gay marriage after voting to allow the union of same sex couples on the weekend.

I think it's something we should put to the vote in Australia.

Marriage by definition in the Macquarie dictionary is the legal union of a man with a woman; state or condition of being married; the legal relation of spouses to each other; wedlock.

This seems to be the position our Prime Minister Tony Abbott is taking. He seemingly doesn't want to shift because of the definition of the word.

But the Macquarie also says marriage is a union between two people of the same sex, made legal in some jurisdictions, but not in Australia.

The third definition is the legal or religious ceremony that sanctions or formalises such a union and any intimate union: a marriage of minds.

I think there is room for the word marriage to be broadened to include same sex couples in a modern society.