Civil Unions Bill Signed in Delaware

Delaware's governor signed a historic bill on May 11 that made the state the eighth to extend civil unions to gay and lesbian families.

Gov. Jack Markell signed the bill during a ceremony at the Queen theater in Wilmington. The event was hosted by Equality Delaware, an advocacy organization that had helped shepherd the bill through the state legislature. A crowd of about 600 attended.

Saying that he and the celebratory crowd were "blessed" to have the occasion, Markell spoke out against "outdated laws" and "bias" that makes life harder for gay and lesbian families. Markell's comments were couched in a speech that lasted about 10 minutes.

"We're here to recognize so much of what is so incredibly right about our state and with more than 600 people here, I think we're also here for a party," Markell said, according to a transcript of his speech provided to EDGE by the governor's office.

Calling the Queen theater a "great venue" for the celebration, Markell said, "This is a place of community, of coming together. And what's been built here at the Queen will be bringing people from all over the region to take a serious look at some of the best things about our state.

"This bill is about those same things," Markell added. "This is about a new energy and a new excitement. It's about a moment in our history--and make no mistake, because tonight is history--" Markell paused as applause swelled. "--that came about because people came together, because it became clear that Delaware's LGBT community is in fact part of every Delaware community."

After another swell of applause, Markell continued, "And it's also clear tonight that the greater good is served when we speak out and when we fight hard, when we see that bias or prejudice or even outdated laws attempt to lessen any one of us."

The governor went on to tell the crowd that the step forward came about through the unceasing civil rights efforts of the GLBT community.

"Each of you have made clear--loud and clear--that when it comes to civil rights in Delaware - when it comes to legally recognizing the rights of families to be families," Markell said, "that our laws would eventually catch up with our reality.

"You made clear that, when it comes to civil rights--that justice would no longer be delayed and justice would no longer be denied," the governor continued. "Because of the years and years that you spent helping build the case, again and again, to the legislature with help from great leaders like Senator Sokola and Representative George, and all of these other magnificent legislators, our lieutenant governor and our insurance commissioner...

"Because of years of making the case that justice needed to be heard, that families needed to be honored, that there are lives--there are actual lives--at stake...

"Because of those years of working to make clear that this is about equal rights, not special rights, that this is about fairness and families, that this move to make justice more real honors the founding ideas of our state and of our country - freedom, equality, opportunity...

"It's become clear that in Delaware, justice and equality move one way--and that is forward."

Markell contrasted the progress that the bill symbolized with the legal biases with which GLBT Delaware residents had had to contend until recently.

"[U]ntil 2009, it was actually legal in Delaware to fire somebody because of their sexual orientation," Markell recalled. "To deny them housing, to discriminate, based on who somebody loved. Because the march for equality moves forward, that discrimination is now outlawed."

The governor also spoke to the needs of gay and lesbian families with children, who have gained some measure of protection in the state in recent years.

"[W]hen it became clear that for some parents--no matter how many diapers they had changed, no matter how many tears they had wiped away, no matter how many bedtime stories they had read... according to Delaware law, non-biological moms or dads might not be recognized as a child's mother or father, Delaware law moved forward again, and de facto parenting became law--because of your help," Markell stated.

"And then, when those two laws passed, the anti-discrimination bill and the de facto parenting bill, the strangest thing happened," the governor went on to note. "Or, more importantly, didn't happen. All the hyperbole, the sky that would fall or the businesses that would boycott if we started to actually deliver on the promise of equality--well, none of that came to pass, to some people's actual surprise.

"And equality kept marching forward."

Markell's speech touched upon the ways in which the civil unions law, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2012, will promote the social, as well as legal, parity of same-sex couples and their children.

"Tonight, with the signing of this law, we say to any Delawarean regardless of sexual orientation, if you have committed yourself to someone, and you've made that pledge to spend your life together in partnership, when life or death decisions come, we honor your right to make those decisions together," Markell declared. "Tonight, we say to loving and committed couples across the state who want the law to endorse the promise they made long ago in their hearts: Your love is equally valid and deserving, your family is now equal under the law."

A sustained burst of applause erupted as Markell spoke those words.

"And tonight, we say to children of gay and lesbian parents in committed relationships all over our state--and there are so many wonderful kids including many here tonight growing up in those families all over Delaware--we say to you: It doesn't matter if your parents are gay or straight," Markell continued. "The people you love and look up to, and that are dedicating their love and their lives to raising you--those are your parents.

"Those are your parents," Markell reiterated, following another sustained round of applause and cheers. "You are a family. And while we've known it, and you've known it for years, tonight, that equality becomes real under law.

"Thank you so much, to all of you who have made this possible."

Several states, including Hawaii and Illinois, have recently extended civil unions to gay and lesbian families. A similar bill failed in Colorado, however.

In Rhode Island, where lawmakers recently abandoned an effort to pass marriage equality legislation, neither side in the debate showed support for a proposed civil unions bill, the Associated Press reported on May 12.

"This is a cop-out," anti-gay activist Joseph Cavanagh, of the RI branch of the National Organization for Marriage, told the AP. "It totally avoids the issue."

For family parity advocates, the proposal of civil unions instead of marriage was a potentially worse outcome than doing nothing.

"This creates a separate status only for gay people to send a message that gay people are not worthy of the protections marriage provides," Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders attorney Karen Loewy said.

"Both sides are acting like schoolchildren," the measure's sponsor, Democrat Rep. Peter Petrarca said. "We either do nothing and let this thing continue to fester, or give same-sex couples the rights they deserve."

But Republican Rep. Doreen Costa disagreed, citing 300 messages from constituents--all but two of which were opposed to civil unions.

"I think civil unions are just a no-win situation," Costa told the AP.