Thany can’t take her eyes off her girlfriend, as she again looks to her left and exchanges a smile on the soft leather couch they are sharing.

“I would love to be married to Ness. I think what marriage means to me is to feel comfortable walking down the street holding Ness’ hand,” she says.

Adolescents face a mammoth task as they grow up – they’re told to be themselves and not to let anything change them.

For the gay community, this task is made more difficult, having to contend with not only opinions of the public but the Australian Government. For those wanting to legally wed their partner, Australian law prevents them from doing so.

Thany Ear and Vanessa Akyalcin are inseparable. Their well decorated, warm townhouse is a sign of maturity at a young age. Ness is a horticulture apprentice and Thany works in retail for a successful company. More recently, they have started a terrarium business with the hope of it booming into the future.

They’re like any other couple- loving and caring. Thany comes from a strict Cambodian-Chinese background and Ness a Hungarian-Turkish.

These women have nothing to hide and no hidden agenda. They just want to be seen as equal.

“When I would bring a girl home, [my family] would speak to me in Cambodian and be like ‘why are you bringing this lesbian here? Lesbians are not allowed in this house,’

“I moved out of home to save the relationship with my parents,” says Thany.

Recently Australia has seen little progress, the coalition voting against legalised gay marriage last week in a marathon party room debate.

The Labor party’s Bill Shorten has pledged his support, saying he wants equality now.

For the women, this is not enough.

“They’re not doing it for the right reasons. They’re doing it to get a vote in,” says Ness.

“It’s just the timing. It doesn’t feel right. It’s like there’s all this talk about same sex marriage and then the opposing parties are like yeah we’ll legalise it.

“I guess that’s the frustrating part for me, like I wish it already happened,” says Thany, with another reassuring glance at her girlfriend.

American Katy Faust, who appeared on Monday night’s Q&A debate, justified her position by saying gay relationships are OK but marriage means children don’t get a good up bringing.

Thany and Ness disagree. They say they are well prepared, with the support of their family, to raise a child.

“What about single mothers? There’s no father figure there. We have brothers, uncles, dads- they all play a part in having that male role.

“It doesn’t matter what gender you are,” says Ness.

Thany is sick of being led on by the government. She wants to see her relationship made valid and equal in the eyes of Australia, now.

“I could actually say Vanessa is my wife,” says Thany.

“On paper, Ness is nothing to me.”