The federal government challenged the validity of the Australian Capital Territory’s (ACT) law that had allowed gay marriages in the nation’s capital and its surrounding area from last Saturday. It means at least 27 weddings have been deemed invalid. For Ivan Hinton, who married his partner Chris Teoh on Saturday, the decision was heartbreaking. The couple only received their marriage certificate on Wednesday and immediately applied to change their surnames to Hinton-Teoh.

Hinton said he doesn’t regret going through with the wedding and will always consider Teoh his husband. He said: “This was an unprecedented and historic opportunity. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.u00a0The federal government’s lawyer argued that having different marriage laws in various Australian states and territories would create confusion.