Delaware Senate OKS bill, governor quickly signs it

DOVER, Del. — A divided state Senate voted Tuesday to make Delaware the 11th state to allow same-sex marriage, after hearing hours of passionate testimony from supporters and opponents.

Less than an hour after the Senate’s 12-9 vote, Democratic Gov. Jack Markell signed the measure into law.

“I do not intend to make any of you wait one moment longer,” a smiling Markell told about 200 jubilant supporters who erupted in cheers and applause following the Senate vote.

Delaware’s same-sex marriage bill was introduced in the Democratic-controlled Legislature barely a year after the state began recognizing samesex civil unions. The bill won passage two weeks ago in the state House on a 23-18 vote.

While it doesn’t give samesex couples more rights or benefits under Delaware law than those they have in civil unions, supporters argued that samesex couples deserve the dignity and respect of married couples.

They also said that if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars married gay couples from receiving federal benefits, civil unions would not provide protections or tax benefits under federal law to same-sex couples in Delaware.

Opponents, including scores of conservative religious leaders from across the state, argued that same-sex marriage redefines and destroys a centuries-old institution that is a building block of society.

“Let’s be careful about the concept of social evolution,” said the Rev. Leonard Klein, a Roman Catholic priest speaking on behalf of the bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington.

Under the bill, no new civil unions will be performed in Delaware after July 1, and existing civil unions will be converted to marriages over the next year. The legislation also states that same-sex unions established in other states will be treated the same as marriages under Delaware law.

Minnesota appears to be the next state to make gay marriage legal after the Democratic speaker of the state House said Tuesday that a bill endorsed by the governor and expected to pass in the state Senate also now has enough backing in his chamber. The House will vote on the measure Thursday, and if it passes, the Democratic-led Senate could vote on it Saturday.