The Delaware House, by a vote of 25 26-15, just approved an 'everything but marriage' civil unions bill, sending it to Governor Markell's desk. The Governor has pledged to sign the legislation.
Yesterday, the House Administration Committee voted to advance the legislation 4-1. Last week, the bill passed the Senate 13-6.
Unlike neighboring Maryland, where a fierce battle erupted over a failed same-sex marriage bill, the Delaware civil unions bill did not engender the scale of opposition seen across the Chesapeake.
Lisa Goodman, president of Equality Delaware, the organization that pushed for a civil unions bill instead of marriage equality, noted
I have had Maryland in the forefront of my mind... We have been redoubling our efforts. We have essentially been using 'remember Maryland' as our rallying cry.
Still, there was some opposition. On April 7th, 200 people rallied on "Defend Marriage Day" in Dover. Said one participant, an Issac Goodman,
"I don't need to say pedophilia is wrong or bestiality is wrong or necrophilia is wrong," said Isaac Goodman of Millsboro, who attended the rally with his wife, Paula. "We don't allow people to have more than one wife, either. Why do we want to say same-sex marriage is OK when, again, it violates the laws of nature?"
I wonder where those laws of nature are enscribed? Probably on the back of Sarah Palin's hand.
The question of civil unions is a vexing one. On the one hand, it feels like progress, and civil unions in other states such as Vermont and New Hampshire have led down the road to full marriage equality.
On the other hand, the stigma of 'separate but ((not really)) equal' continues to haunt those who advocate for them as a stepping stone. The fact that civil unions are not in fact nor in law really equivalent to marriage was laid out in exquisite detail in the original California Supreme Court decision on marriage equality, In Re: Marriage Cases, and in Judge Vaughn Walker's subsequent decision in the Proposition 8 Trial, Perry v. Schwarzenegger Brown.
Delaware Right to Marry, led by Kossack Cpt Robespierre, is an organization devoted to getting a marriage equality bill passed in Delaware. Now that civil unions will soon be a reality in Delaware, all effort must be devoted to laying the foundation for a marriage equality bill to be introduced to, and ultimately passed by, the Delaware legislature.
Cpt Robespierre, aka Bill Humphrey, released this statement immediately after the vote:
Moments ago, the Delaware House of Representatives voted to pass S.B. 30, an everything-but-marriage civil unions bill, which the Senate passed last week. Although our organization has not been connected to that effort because we have consistently backed full equality, and we have not taken a position for or against the bill, the debate has at least shown who our opponents will be in the fight for full marriage equality down the road. In the Senate, six legislators, including two Democrats, voted against civil unions last week. In the House today, fifteen legislators, including at least two Democrats voted against the bill.
The rhetoric by the opponents of civil unions, generally speaking, has been hurtful, bigoted, and filled with untruths. Even Democrats brought up unfriendly amendments to derail the bill or diminish same-sex relationships. Frankly, we've had enough of that, especially from Democrats who should be natural allies, and it's time to call them out. Many of these legislators (and at least three of the Democrats) will be facing re-election in 2012, and we intend to send them a message: Delaware and the Democratic Party doesn't support anti-gay bigotry.
In our statewide poll at the end of January (conducted by Public Policy Polling), we found that 68% of Chris Coons 2010 voters support marriage equality. The state Democratic Party's 2009 platform endorses "Relationship recognition regardless of sexual orientation" in Section IX. Therefore, it is more than fair to target Democratic legislators in Delaware for anti-equality votes.
We are raising money now to recruit and support primary challengers wherever feasible and to run an aggressive advertising campaign against anti-equality candidates in the primaries or general elections next year. We really need your help again today to help kick this campaign off and take on the old guard establishment. We can run a tough campaign in Delaware with limited funds, so any amount helps.
As always, thank you for all your support. You make this campaign possible.
You can support them here.
Or here, specifically to take on certain Delaware legislators who votes against civil unions.
Congratulations (sort of) Delaware!