Marriage Momentum: Delaware & Rhode Island

How about a little good news to start the day?

In Delaware yesterday, the state house of representatives approved a bill legalizing marriage for same-sex couples:

The bill, which was introduced less than two weeks ago, will go to the Senate for a vote before heading to the desk of Gov. Jack Markell, who has said he would sign such a bill into law.

The state has extended civil unions rights to all same-sex couples since 2011. The legislative procedure to make marriages legal for Delaware's same-sex couples is relatively simple. Current law restricts marriage only to two "people [not] of the same gender," but there is no constitutional ban on marriage equality. The proposed legislation will revise the statute language to establish marriage equality. With a strong Democratic base of voters, Democratic control over both the house and senate, and Gov. Markell's endorsement, equality supporters don't anticipate a drawn-out fight toward equality.

Yay!

Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, the state senate judiciary committee approved a bill which would legalize marriage for same-sex couples:

By a vote of 7 to 4, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, while allowing religious leaders who oppose such marriages to refuse to perform them. The landmark vote by the full Senate could come on Wednesday. Gay rights advocates said that they think they have the votes to prevail, all but ensuring adoption of same-sex marriage by the only state in New England that does not already allow it.

"We think that when the vote is called, we can win," Ray Sullivan, campaign director of Rhode Islanders United for Marriage, said Tuesday afternoon of the imminent Senate vote.

A similar bill passed the House in January by a vote of 51 to 19, and Gov. Lincoln Chafee, a onetime Republican who is now an independent, has strongly supported marriage equality.

Yay!

There are, of course, states where achieving marriage equality for same-sex couples is going to be even more difficult, because of constitutional bans on same-sex marriage and the continued existence of DOMA. The more states that legalize same-sex marriage through the legislatures, the more pressure it will put on states with constitutional bans to lift those bans and do the right thing. These legislative victories will not only be crucial for same-sex couples who want to get married in Delaware and Rhode Island, but for same-sex couples in states who are still awaiting the first steps toward marriage equality.