Delaware Becomes 11th U.S. State to Allow Same-Sex Couples to Marry
May 7, 2013
Contact: Respect for Marriage Coalition Office / 202-567-5720
Washington, D.C. — Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed legislation this afternoon making Delaware the 11th state in the nation – plus the District of Columbia – to legalize marriage for same-sex couples. With added help from Republican state legislators, Delaware’s freedom to marry legislation passed a final hurdle in the state senate this afternoon. The law will go into effect on July 1st.
Today’s victory for gay and lesbian couples in Delaware comes on the heels of Rhode Island’s passage of freedom to marry legislation last Thursday. And, in a sign of growing bipartisan momentum for marriage, two more states – Illinois and Minnesota – are also weighing similar legislation in the coming weeks. A map of all state laws can be found here.
“Today, we wrote a new chapter in our history and proved, once again, justice and equality continue to move forward in Delaware,” said Delaware Governor Jack Markell. “In my State of the State earlier this year, I spoke about a Delaware that protects the rights of all of its citizens, no matter whom they love. By signing House Bill 75 into law, we are another step closer toward achieving that goal. Those of you who have worked tirelessly for years to make today possible have joined the ranks of those great Delawareans. You have advanced the cause of liberty, equality and dignity in our time.”
“This is a historic day for Delaware,” said Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, who earlier this year signed two briefs filed in the United States Supreme Court supporting marriage equality. “Because of today's vote, all Delawareans will be equal under the law and free to choose whom to love and whom to spend their lives with. I would like to congratulations to the supporters of the marriage equality legislation worked extremely hard to get this bill passed, to Governor Jack Markell, Senator David Sokola, Representative Melanie George Smith, President Pro Tem Patricia Blevins, Speaker of the House Pete Schwartzkopf and all of the legislators who voted for House Bill 75.”
“As America waits for rulings from the Supreme Court on two historic marriage cases, Delaware today took decisive action and guaranteed equality for the thousands of gay and lesbian couples of that great state,” said Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin. “Thanks to principled impatience from state leaders in Dover, the momentum for LGBT equality continues unabated.”
Freedom to Marry National Campaign Director Marc Solomon said, “As happy couples and their loved ones celebrate and prepare for the first weddings in Delaware – following the win in Rhode Island just a few days ago – this milestone sends yet another message to the Supreme Court that it’s time for marriage for all Americans. Freedom to Marry is proud of its work with Equality Delaware to secure this victory, and we look forward to surging forward and continuing the momentum in Illinois and Minnesota later this month.”
As state legislatures across the nation work to allow marriage for same-sex couples, recent Washington Post/ABC polling shows that 58 percent of Americans support the freedom to marry, including more than 50% of Republicans and right-leaning Independents under age 30. An April 2013 state-by-state analysis by the Williams Institute showed that support for the freedom to marry has grown in every state in the nation over the last eight years by an average of 13.6 percent. By the end of 2012, when the Institute finalized its data, support for the freedom to marry was at or above 50 percent in 12 states and the District of Columbia and was within five percentage points of majority support in 13 additional states.
Yet, despite the majority of Americans who support the freedom to marry and recent momentum in state legislatures around the country, 39 states still do not allow same-sex couples to marry. The federal government also still cannot recognize legally married same-sex couples because of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The law, passed by congress in 1996, denies legally married same-sex couples more than 1,100 federal benefits and protections that straight married couples are granted automatically.
The growing support for marriage across the country makes the two historic cases before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of Defense of Marriage Act and California’s ‘Prop 8’ ban on marriage for same-sex couples all the more important. Until DOMA Section 3 is eliminated, gay couples who are legally married in their home states will continue to be treated as second-class citizens by the federal government. The court also has the opportunity to strike down discriminatory and unconstitutional laws like Prop 8 that explicitly prohibit gay Americans from exercising their fundamental freedom to marry. For these reasons, a broad range of marriage supporters – including 214 members of Congress, 131 top Republicans, more than 300 leading companies, 30 former military and defense officials, and dozens of religious, labor, legal, and family health organizations – filed amicus briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of same-sex couples.
For more information visit RespectForMarriage.org.
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The Respect for Marriage Coalition is a partnership of more than 100 civil rights, faith, health, labor, business, legal, LGBT, student, and women's organizations working together to end the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and grow support for the freedom to marry. The Coalition is co-chaired by Freedom to Marry and the Human Rights Campaign.