Delaware becomes 11th state to approve same-sex marriage in close senate vote

Marriages to begin on July 1 and existing civil unions will be converted as governor praises 'incredible team effort'
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The US supreme court is expected to rule this summer on the Defense of Marriage Act. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A divided Delaware state senate voted Tuesday to make their state the 11th in the US to allow same-sex marriage, after hearing hours of passionate testimony from supporters and opponents.

The Senate's 12-9 vote sends the bill to Democratic governor Jack Markell, who supports the measure and planned to sign it later in the day. It would go into effect July 1.

"I think this is the right thing for Delaware," the governor said after the vote, while posing for pictures with supporters outside his legislative office. "It took an incredible team effort."

Gay rights activists and their supporters in the chamber erupted in cheers and applause following the Senate vote.

Delaware's same-sex marriage bill was introduced in the Democrat-controlled legislature last month, barely a year after the state began recognizing same-sex civil unions. The bill won passage two weeks ago in the state House on a 23-18 vote.

While it doesn't give same-sex couples any more rights or benefits under Delaware law than those they have in civil unions, supporters argued same-sex couples deserve the dignity and respect of married couples. They also noted that if the US 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 same-sex marriage redefines and destroys a centuries-old institution that is a building block of society.



Delaware, at tiny state on the U.S. Atlantic coast, joins neighboring Maryland and the nearby District of Columbia as jurisdictions that have approved gay marriage. Last week, Rhode Island became the 10th state to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed, with independent governor Lincoln Chafee signing the bill an hour after its final passage.

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