First, the facts
- Massachusetts and Connecticut license same-sex marriages. California did until prop. 8 narrowly passed.
- New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Vermont license Civil Unions.
- Maine, DC, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Maryland, and California offer gay couples “some” legal protections via Domestic Partnership.
- New York recognizes same-sex marriages performed legally in other states.’
- New York and Rhode Island are currently debating same-sex marriage legislation. Illinois is considering Civil Union legislation, while New Mexico is debating Domestic Partnership legislation.
- Same-Sex marriage is offered in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, and Norway. Based on a recent court ruling, Nepal soon will as well.
- Civil Unions/Registered Partnerships are offered in Denmark, New Zealand, Uruguay, the United Kingdom, Andorra, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Sweden, and Switzerland.
- Some form of legal recognition is provided to same-sex couples in parts of Argentina, Mexico, Austrailia, and Brazil.
- The protection of Unregistered Cohabitation (ie Common-Law Marriage) is extended to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples in Australia, Israel, Colombia, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Ecuador, and Austria.
- Foreign gay marriages are recognized in Israel and France.
- Civil Union legislation is currently being debated in Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ireland, and Liechtenstein. Domestic Partnership legislation is being debated in Estonia and Unregistered Cohabitation for same-sex couples is being debated in Italy.
- A majority of Americans support either Same-Sex Marriage or Civil Unions: Quinnipiac 7/8-7/13: 65%; Newsweek 6/18-6/19: 57%; CBS 5/30-6/3: 58%
- Democrats now control the Delaware State House of Representatives, which has previously passed HB99 to establish Civil Unions (which was terminally stalled in the Senate). Republican William Oberle has long been a supporter of equal rights for gays.
- Democrats now have a 16-5 majority on the Senate. John Still and Charlie Copeland were replaced by Democrats.
- Jack Markell and Matt Denn support Civil Unions.
- Establishing Civil Unions or Gay Marriages in Delaware could bring in out-of-state revenue from Pennsylvania and Maryland.
- Domestic Partnership benefits are offered by several of Delaware’s largest employers, including DuPont, AstraZeneca, Happy Harry’s, and all the big banks.
With these facts in mind, I propose that we make 2009 the year that Delaware recognizes the rights of same-sex couples. I support Same-Sex Marriage, but I don’t think we have enough votes for that yet. Civil Unions, however, are widely popular, and I think we have enough support to make such unions legally equal to marriage. We need to turn our legislative victories into progressive action. We can’t allow the likes of Thurman Adams and the conservative members of both parties to stand in the way of civil rights.
So who’s with me? This is an issue supported by many Delawarean bloggers; not only liberals, but also Greens, Libertarians, and many Independents and Republicans. Watch this space for more on this issue as it develops.