Cheers, smiles and tears told hundreds of individual stories as news of the "yes" campaign's win spread through the centre of Brisbane.
Couples who had waited years for some sort of step on the road to marriage equality kissed, friends embraced and adults stood proudly with tears in their eyes.
Even Love is in the Air played at ear-splitting volume could not drown out the celebrations as rainbow flags waved around Queens Gardens.
"Thank you Australia," one man yelled.
Brad Harker and Scott D'Amico wore their rings for the occasion, draped in a flag and promising to marry this time next year.
"For years we've felt we had to hide our sexuality and now we feel that Australia is backing us," Mr Harker said.
Australian Marriage Equality spokeswoman Shirleene Robinson met her now-wife Sarah in Brisbane and wanted to be back there for the voluntary same-sex marriage postal survey result.
"What we have achieved here together as one people will send such a powerful message to future generations that we are all equal under the law," she told the crowd from the stage.
"We expect to be treated equally.
"For the young gay person who comes to realise their sexuality, who falls in love, that they should have the same opportunity to marry as everyone else in this country does."
For lifelong equality campaigner Bill Rutkin, the 61.6 per cent "yes" response was another win in a long series of battles in a state that has often been slow to act on civil rights.
"It's almost 50 years since the campaign against moral persecution was formed in Queensland," said Mr Rutkin, who was the movement's youngest member.
"I almost burst into tears thinking about how far our community has come and the trials that we've been through in that time.
"From the police harassment, from the bashings, from the bullying, to the deaths and the suicides through the AIDS epidemic and more deaths and terrible, terrible times.
"To today, where finally we've found our place in the sun, sort of. We still need the politicians to do their bit."
For good friends Marney O'Dea, Dominic Mantes and Daniel Hewson, the result meant "the world".
There were nerves on Wednesday morning before the count came in, and afterwards a sense of relief and hope that the vitriol around the long national debate would end.
Daniel, who had fallen out with a family member who "wasn't really accepting" during the course of the survey period, said the result felt like validation.
Both Brisbane's Story Bridge and City Hall will be lit up in rainbow colours tonight to mark the historic vote, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said.
