Governor Markell spoke to the Huffington Post and tells them that he thinks that marriage equality in Delaware might be as close as 2013, when he expects the legislature to take it up. That is a surprise and it is good news.
Markell, a Democrat, supports legalizing same-sex marriage, and he has said in the past that he believes marriage equality is “inevitable” in his state. He previously predicted the Delaware legislature would take up the issue “probably within the next few years.”
But in an interview at The Huffington Post’s offices on Monday, Markell said he expected the legislature to work on it as soon as the next session.
While the HuffPo notes that recent victories for marriage equality were specifically led by the Governors of those states, Markell says he would be willing to play the same role, but is expecting a great deal of grassroots support to get it done.
Along the same line, four blue states will have marriage equality up on the ballot this year, and all four states have polling that says these measures will pass. Cautious optimism is in order, it is early in the game, and the bigoted and their churches haven’t gotten into the fray yet. But it would be quite the achievement and would help to provide some momentum to any effort in Delaware.