A colourful parade and rally in Adelaide has drawn hundreds of supporters of marriage equality.

Those taking part marched through the city and urged the Federal Government to allow a parliamentary conscience vote on the issue before the year is out.

The rally ended at the steps of Parliament House, where participants heard from representatives of the ALP, the Liberals, Greens and the lobby group Australian Marriage Equality (AME).

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Ivan Hinton from AME said the Adelaide rally was joyous, as people were full of hope Federal Parliament would ultimately support the wishes of a majority of Australians.

“The stage that we’re at with this campaign is not convincing MPs why they need to achieve marriage equality, the point is now just letting them know we want marriage equality,” he said.

“It’s not just [gay] people that want marriage equality, it’s 72 per cent of Australians all across the country.

“We live in a democracy, they [MPs] need to know what the people want.”

Mr Hinton spoke of a man who wanted to marry his partner of 45 years “while he still had the chance” and of teenagers who were struggling to understand societal rejection.

“These are the people we are fighting for marriage equality for, and this is why we need this reform now,” he said.

“We need it for the 19-year-olds [including one who said to me] I am struggling to understand why I am on the edges of society.

“I have mothers coming to me saying ‘I really want my daughters to be able to celebrate their marriage’.”

South Australian Liberal MP David Pisoni said the apparent mood for change heartened him.

“I’ve always been a supporter of same-sex marriage. I don’t believe there should be any discrimination based on your sexuality,” he said.

“I think there is a growing mood for change, I think there are many Liberals in both the state parliamentary party and federal parliamentary party that understand the need for marriage equality, it’s a matter of managing the politics.

“I think whether it be the Labor Party or the Liberal Party, there are views that are changing when it comes to same-sex relationships and same-sex marriages. It’s the role of all of those people in those political parties to work with their colleagues to make it happen.”