g********d
发帖数: 4174 | 1 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/06/jack-markell-delaware-
WASHINGTON -- Delaware could legalize marriage equality next year, according
to Gov. Jack Markell.
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.
"I think it probably will," he said.
Same-sex marriage is legal in six states and the District of Columbia.
Democratic governors in Maryland and New York, two states that recently
signed marriage equality into law, took the lead on shepherding the bill
through the legislative process and making it a key priority. (The law is
not in effect in Maryland yet, pending the outcome of a November ballot
referendum.)
Markell said he was willing to play a similar role in Delaware, although he
said the real leadership will come from LGBT groups.
"I think it's always important to have gubernatorial leadership, but the
other thing it's very helpful to have -- the real hero of getting civil
unions done [in the state] -- was not me," he said. "The real hero and
heroine were a couple of people who led a group called Equality Delaware."
Delaware legalized civil unions in April 2011. Advocates who had been
working to eradicate discrimination against LGBT individuals formed Equality
Delaware and helped draft the comprehensive civil union legislation that
eventually passed the state legislature.
"The grassroots efforts can be so powerful. So there was a group of people -
- many of them gay or lesbian but many of them not -- who lobbied the heck
out of this and they did it all over the state," said Markell. "I think
having that group of people who were willing to work very very hard with my
support is what it will take." | D**S
发帖数: 24887 | 2 If this is ever to happen, it is largely because the majority of the
population in DE happen to be in the more liberal northern part of the state
. The southern part of the state, fortunately in this case, has a much
smaller population but is traditionally quite conservative and in fact is
normally considered part of the cultural "south". |
|
