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The article reports that some Australian gay men claim they have the answer to Prime Minister John Howard's call for a nationwide ban on same-sex marriage: create their own kingdom. They are proclaiming the tiny and uninhabited Coral Sea Island of Cato as the world's first independent gay nation and appointing himself emperor, businessman Dale Anderson in June 2004 lowered the island's Australian flag and raised a rainbow one. He then sent a declaration of independence to the governor-general of Australia, which was promptly rejected.

Gay and lesbian voters in Australia are now faced with choosing between two major political parties whose leaders have both taken strong stands against same-sex marriage. In advance of this year's national elections, Prime Minister John Howard, head of Australia's ruling Liberal Party, on May 27, 2004, announced his plan to amend Australia's Marriage Act to ban gay unions. The opposition Labor Party also supports a ban, which the parliament is expected to pass. Statement from Daisy Little, an openly lesbian resident of Camperdown, near Sydney, was given. Howard is a strong supporter of U.S. President George W. Bush. And like similar moves by Bush in the United States, Howard's proposal has been labeled by many as an effort to improve his sagging rating in the polls.