2nd Update: SB 121 will be signed into law by Jack Markell on Thursday, July 2 at 3:00 PM at Camp Rehoboth. Thanks MJ.
Update: The signing is postponed due to Thurman Adams’s funeral. We will update when we know the new date and time.
Today at 2 PM, Governor Markell will sign SB 121 at Camp Rehoboth. It’s been quite a fight to get this bill passed, and I would like to congratulate the people who worked so hard, for many years to get this bill passed. This bill was long overdue.
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 6, 9, 18, 19, 25, AND 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT, PUBLIC WORKS CONTRACTING, HOUSING, EQUAL ACCOMMODATIONS AND THE INSURANCE BUSINESS.
Synopsis: This Act adds the term “sexual orientation” to the already-existing list of prohibited practices of discrimination. As such, this Act would forbid discrimination against a person on the basis of sexual orientation in housing, employment, public works contracting, public accommodations, and insurance. In addition, this Act would establish that the Superior Court, in the first instance, would hear and adjudicate alleged criminal violations under the Act of equal accommodations, fair housing and employment discrimination.
Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, largely considered to be the beginning of the gay rights’ movement. Wikipedia:
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They are frequently cited as the first instance in American history when gays and lesbians fought back against a government-sponsored system that persecuted homosexuals, and they have become the defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.
American gays and lesbians in the 1950s and 1960s faced a legal system more anti-homosexual than those of some Warsaw Pact countries.[note 1][2] Early homophile groups in the U.S. sought to prove that gay people could be assimilated into society, and they favored non-confrontational education for homosexuals and heterosexuals alike. The last years of the 1960s, however, were very contentious, as many social movements were active, including the African American Civil Rights Movement, the Counterculture of the 1960s, and antiwar demonstrations. These influences, along with the liberal environment of Greenwich Village, served as catalysts for the Stonewall riots.
Very few establishments welcomed openly gay people in the 1950s and 1960s. Those that did were often bars, although bar owners and managers were rarely gay. The Stonewall Inn, at the time, was owned by the Mafia.[3][4] It catered to an assortment of patrons, but it was known to be popular with the most marginalized people in the gay community: transvestites, effeminate young men, hustlers, and homeless youth. Police raids on gay bars were routine in the 1960s, but officers quickly lost control of the situation at the Stonewall Inn, and attracted a crowd that was incited to riot. Tensions between New York City police and gay residents of Greenwich Village erupted into more protests the next evening, and again several nights later. Within weeks, Village residents quickly organized into activist groups to concentrate efforts on establishing places for gays and lesbians to be open about their sexual orientation without fear of being arrested.
It is quite amazing to me sometimes to think about the deep prejudice against LGBT people and how it was written into law. It’s now 2009, 40 years after Stonewall and Delaware is just now getting around to making sure LGBT people can’t be fired just for their sexual orientation? This is not to say that the gay rights movement hasn’t been successful, it’s been extremely successful. I am part of the under-40 generation that believes that being gay or lesbian is no big deal – it’s just another form of normal. We see same-sex marriage and full and open service in the military as inevitable.
To me and many others, full recognition of LGBT people is a civil rights issue, and there has been great progress. Six states now allow same-sex marriage: Massachusetts (2003), Connecticut (2008), Iowa (2009), Vermont (starting Sept. 1, 2009), Maine (starting Sept. 14, 2009) and New Hampshire (starting Jan. 1, 2010). New York and Washington, D.C. recognize same-sex marriages from other states without performing them. New Jersey and Oregon recognize civil unions and four other states recognize domestic partnerships.
A lot of work remains to make sure LGBT people have full civil rights in the U.S and the current laws are a patchwork around the country. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is still in effect and qualified men and women are removed from the military today solely based on their sexual orientation. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages from other states and defines marriage federally as between a man and a woman, remains the law of the land. Thirty states have made same-sex marriage consitutionally prohibited. Forty states, including Delaware, have made same-sex marriage illegal by law. An attempt to prohibit same-sex marriage constitutionally in Delaware was defeated just this year.
Today let’s celebrate the success. Tomorrow it’s back to work.