Same-sex couples who got married this week comfort each other after the high court ruling.
.
 Same-sex couples console one another in Canberra. 
Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
.
The marriage of Canberra couple Narell Majic and Ash Watson was so fresh they had not even received their wedding rings - which were not ready in time for the ceremony on Tuesday. But after less than 48 hours of marriage, their legal union was annulled on Thursday, when the High Court struck down the ACT's same-sex marriage laws.
.
The pair will still collect their rings and wear them with their diamond engagement rings, as well as the gold wedding bands they exchanged during their civil union ceremony two years ago to the day.
Ms Watson said the court's decision didn't change the way the couple felt about each other. ''We've been married for one whole day, and it doesn't feel any different to how it did before,'' she said. 

.They would marry again if Federal Parliament legalised same-sex marriage. But Ms Watson joked that they had enough jewellery. ''I have said that she's not getting another ring.''

Ash Watson and Narell Majic.
.
Ash Watson (left) and Narell Majic. 
Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

It was standing room only at the High Court to hear the decision at 12.15pm. Two courtrooms were packed, and journalists and latecomers were directed to the registry to watch the announcement on closed circuit television.

Advertisement
The moment was anti-climactic. The news, when it came, was greeted by sighs and shaken heads.
.
Unanimously the court found the ACT laws were inconsistent with federal marriage laws. But it found that ''marriage'' under the constitution included marriage between same-sex couples, meaning it is up to Federal Parliament to decide whether same-sex marriage should be allowed.

A same-sex marriage protestor rejoices after the ruling.
.
An opponent celebrates.
 Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
.
The outcome was expected and a summary of the judgment was accidentally and prematurely posted on the court's website.
Wearing a T-shirt showing a rainbow over the word ''happy'', Ciaron Quinlivan admitted he had hoped for a different outcome. But the ruling offered hope that Federal Parliament might legalise same-sex marriage in the future.
Outside the court, a woman looked to the sky and gave thanks. ''Hallelujah! God bless Australia,'' she cried.
.
Two young women argued with her. One of them, Joanna Cox said: ''Someone else's fundamental human rights has been completely rejected here and I can't believe someone's so happy about that.'' But tensions never rose enough to require police to intervene.
As newly married same-sex couples spoke to journalists, a handful of Christian protesters cranked up the volume on a boombox playing Hillsong music. 
.
They held placards reading ''God's word - repent or perish'' and ''Marriage is for man and wife.'' Peter Lee, a member of a Pentecostal church, waved a giant flag of translucent cloth, representing the sea of glass that, according to the book of Revelation, surrounds the throne of God. Same-sex marriage was against the word of God, he said.
''We're not against them,'' he said of the same-sex couples. ''We're here to love them and tell them the truth.''
.
The Australian Christian Lobby said the debate about same-sex marriage had ''been given a fair go'' and ''it is now time to move on''. Attorney-General George Brandis welcomed the court's ruling.
.
The court's decision would seem to doom same-sex marriage legislation introduced in the West Australian Parliament on Thursday. But advocates remained unbowed, calling for Coalition MPs to have a free vote on the issue.