text: Image copyright Marion Jonkers Image caption Jill Kindt (L) and Jo Grant were married on 15 December 
   
   A dying woman and her partner were the first same-sex couple to legally marry in Australia, it has been revealed. 
   
   After the nation redefined its marriage law in December, Jo Grant and Jill Kindt obtained an exemption from an official waiting period. 
   
   Ms Grant died from cancer on 30 January, less than seven weeks after marrying Ms Kindt. They had been together for eight years. 
   
   "Jo and I got to be legally married for 48 days - I'll take that," Ms Kindt. 
   
   Image copyright Marion Jonkers 
   
   Their historic marriage was made public in Queensland's parliament by state Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath. 
   
   "I am honoured to reveal today that on December the 15th last year, despite what you may have seen reported in the media, Australia's first same-sex marriage was in fact actually held in Queensland," she said. 
   
   Laws allowing same-sex couples to register for marriage had come into effect six days earlier, following a decisive public vote and approval by parliament. 
   
   Some other same-sex couples, including others where one partner had a terminal illness, were also allowed to skip the waiting period and a handful of well-reported midnight celebrations took place. 
   
   But the Queensland couple were married privately in their garden on the Sunshine Coast, surrounded by friends and family. Ms D'Ath said the marriage had been revealed now to parliament with family permission. 
   
   She said officials went to "extraordinary lengths" to make Ms Grant and Ms Kindt's wedding happen quickly. 
   
   Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption First same-sex wedding on Sydney's Harbour Bridge 
   
   The ceremony took place within 24 hours of the marriage being approved. 
   
   Ms D'Ath said staff from Queensland Births, Deaths and Marriages drove about 100km (60 miles) to deliver paperwork to the marriage celebrant. 
   
   Ms Grant had a "rare cancer" and had been receiving palliative care. She and Ms Kindt had held a commitment ceremony in 2013. 
   
   "We considered ourselves married [in 2013], but in a legal sense we weren't," said Ms Kindt, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. ||||| The first same-sex couple to wed in Australia were only married for 48 days before death parted them 
   
   Updated 
   
   The extraordinary efforts behind the scenes of Australia's first same-sex marriage, allowing a Queensland woman to wed her partner before she died from cancer, have been revealed. 
   
   Jill Kindt and Jo Grant had been together for eight years but only legally married for 48 days, after they tied the knot in their garden on December 15. 
   
   It was a week after same-sex marriage became legal in Australia, and it has now been revealed to be the country's first. 
   
   It was allowed to proceed without the 30-day waiting period because Ms Grant was terminally ill with a rare cancer. 
   
   She died on January 30, 2018, just over six weeks from her wedding. 
   
   The behind-the-scenes details, and the people who helped make their wedding possible, were mentioned in Queensland Parliament. 
   
   Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said Ms Kindt and Ms Grant were approved, married, and registered all in one day, after the Registrar ruled exceptional circumstances. 
   
   Staff from Births, Death and Marriages also played an important role — with one staff member even driving from Brisbane to a roadside service station on the way to the Sunshine Coast to meet the celebrant and deliver the paperwork necessary for the marriage to take place. 
   
   "I know there are other couples that were married that weekend, and for different reasons. They are among the first … and the reason we did is a tremendously sad one, and I'd trade everything for not having to stand here and talk about this story," Ms Kindt said. 
   
   In 2013, Ms Kindt and Ms Grant held a commitment ceremony, or a "promise day" as they called it, and considered themselves to be each others' spouses ever since. 
   
   Their 2017 wedding made their marriage legal. 
   
   "It was great, it was really good. It was legal … Jo very much wanted it to happen, as I did," Ms Kindt said. 
   
   "It's very hard to describe. We considered ourselves married, but in a legal sense we weren't." 
   
   Ms Kindt said she and her wife were humbled by those behind the scenes who moved heaven and earth to make sure they had as much time possible together legally married. 
   
   "But we were overwhelmed by the fact the people who did not know us made something that we wanted happen and gave us a whole heap of joy. That's the story," Ms Kindt said. 
   
   "But I'm glad the story's been told for Jo, and I loved hearing her name being said in Parliament today. 
   
   "Jo and I got to be legally married for 48 days. I'll take that." 
   
   Ms D'Ath called it an "inspiring story". 
   
   "It's a story of hope that reframes Queensland as a modern, trailblazing state which recognises equal rights and the most fundamental principle — that love is love," Ms D'Ath said. 
   
   Australia's first same-sex weddings occurred from January 9 but some couples, such as Ms Kindt and Ms Grant, were eligible for exemptions allowing them to wed earlier. 
   
   Lauren Price and Amy Laker, from Sydney, also exchanged vows on December 16 after they too obtained a waiver exempting them from the one-month waiting period because their families were travelling from Wales to be there. 
   
   Ms Grant and Ms Kindt were one of 159 same sex couples who have been married in Queensland since the marriage equality laws were passed. 
   
   Topics: community-and-society, family-and-children, marriage, lgbt, state-parliament, parliament, government-and-politics, maroochydore-4558, qld, brisbane-4000 
   
   First posted
target: – It was initially reported that the first same-sex couples to wed after Australia legalized gay marriage last year did so on Dec. 16—but it has now been revealed that Jo Grant and Jill Kindt were actually the first couple to marry under the new legislation, on Dec. 15. Grant was receiving palliative care for cancer at the time, and Queensland's state attorney general says officials went to "extraordinary lengths" to make sure the couple was granted a waiver to skip the official 30-day waiting period most couples in the country had to undergo, with one official staffer driving 60 miles to deliver necessary paperwork to the couple. Their marriage was approved, they were married in their garden, and registered all within a day; it was just six days after same-sex marriage became legal. Grant died Jan. 30, the BBC reports. "Jo and I got to be legally married for 48 days—I'll take that," says Kindt. The couple had been together eight years, and considered themselves married ever since a 2013 commitment ceremony. "I know there are other couples that were married that weekend, and for different reasons. They are among the first … and the reason we did is a tremendously sad one, and I'd trade everything for not having to stand here and talk about this story," said the attorney general when revealing the historic marriage to Queensland's parliament, per ABC. "I'm glad the story's been told for Jo, and I loved hearing her name being said in Parliament today," said Kindt, adding that the wedding "was great, it was really good. It was legal … Jo very much wanted it to happen, as I did."