Australia's First Same-Sex Marriage Ends in Heartbreak

Till death did they part.

Jill Kindt and Jo Grant were the first same-sex couple to marry in Australia. The pair, who had been together for eight years, tied the knot in their Queensland garden on December 15 surrounded by friends and family.

The required 30-day waiting period -- same-sex couples began applying for legal marriages six days prior, following the country's passage of marriage equality -- had been waived for Kindt and Grant, due to exceptional circumstances. Grant had a terminal cancer.

On January 30, Grant died after more than six weeks of matrimony. The couple had previously held a commitment ceremony in 2013.

"Jo and I got to be legally married for 48 days -- I'll take that," said Kindt, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

With the family's blessing, Yvette D'Ath, the state's attorney general, revealed to the Queensland Parliament the details of their early marriage, which had not previously been made public.

"I am honored 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.

D'Ath said the Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages went to "extraordinary lengths" to make the wedding possible within a time frame of 24 hours. A staff member even drove about 60 miles to deliver paperwork.

Kindt said the circumstances of their rushed marriage were sad. "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," Kindt said.

"It's a story of hope that reframes Queensland as a modern, trailblazing state which recognizes equal rights and the most fundamental principle -- that love is love," D'Ath said.