UPDATE: Civil Unions Bill Passes!
You have to go to the GA webpage, then hit the Live Audio Link for the House Debate in the middle of the page. You need Quicktime to hear this.
UPDATE The House just passed the bill with no amendments 26 to 15. Congratulations to all who worked so hard.
Voting yes, and thus for love, fairness, and a move towards equality:
Barbieri, Bennett, Bolden, Brady, George, Heffernan, Jaques, J. Johnson, Q. Johnson, Keeley, Kowalko, Longhurst, Manolakos, Mitchell, Mulrooney, Osienski, Ramone, Schooley, Schwartzkopf, Scott, B. Short, Viola, Walker, D.E. Williams, D.P. Williams
Voting no, and thus for hatred, bigotry and discrimination:
Atkins, Blakely, Briggs King, Carson, Hocker, Hudson, Kenton, Lavelle, Lee, Miro, Outten, Peterman, D. Short, Willis, Wilson
Tags: Civil Unions
They are calling the roll!
26 yes
15 No
Senate Bill 30 Passes!
Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard for this.
And it passed with no Amendments. I got a push poll call yesterday on this from some right wing group, and I swore it was Christine O’Donnell’s voice reading the questions.
You’re all invited to our ceremony. FANTASTIC NEWS!!!!
I listened to part of this debate — there was a fair bit of clownishness coming from the GOP objections to this, but Rep. George and the Equality Now folks really held their own.
I am so proud of all of these guys!
Love to know who voted against it…who the jerks are.
This is awesome! Congratulations!
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT
Guess you can’t tell that I’m excited
CONGRATS MJ! CONGRATS EVERYONE!
MJ, can my band play at your wedding? (im just going to call them weddings….. 1. because that’s what they are, and 2, it will REALLY piss off the Baggers)
Sorry Cass. I deleted my thread and moved the comments to this one. Congrats Delaware!
I can’t wait MJ! When’s the CU taking place?
Upstate jerks are Miro, Hudson (kind of surprised), and Lavelle.
Downstate jerks are Atkins, Wilson, Willis, Kenton, Briggs King, Carson, Hocker, Lee, Outten, Peterman, and Short.
I am missing someone.
Blakey.
Yeah, I got the robocall yesterday. What’s this crap about having to “retrain teachers to call parents Parent 1/Parent 2, state funds will be used, if you’re against, call…” I immediately picked up the phone and left a message for Stephanie Bolden to vote FOR, not against! Took the person who answered the phone by surprise!
that robo call was so DESPERATE! Think about the people they were hoping to snag with that call. Only the incredibly unintelligent and hateful would respond to that type of imagery.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the conservative base.
While Lavelle’s economic conservatism is notorious, I thought he was sufficently moderate socially to not vote against this legislation. I wonder what his angle is in this vote.
Dana, Lavelle answers to the Catholic Church. He supports covering up pedophile priests while opposing civil unions. It’s why I call him the Monsignor. Simple as that.
Seriously, Gov. Markell and a really energized group of legislators deserve tremendous credit for doing this, and doing this in almost record time. Senate and House leadership, yes, including Tony DeLuca, moved this bill through without a hitch.
This is one of those rare instances when a majority of the General Assembly members deserve to take bows. The two senators who ‘took a walk’ are not among them. Remember that come election time.
Truly, a historic day!
Lavelle is running as GOP vice chair – that would be his motivation, to appeal to social conservatives in an attempt to “unite” the party
@MJ – WHHHHOOOOOO!! congrads – Seder will be sweeter!!
I’m glad this passed. It’s a smaller step, but still a step in the right direction nonetheless.
Roll call here. Two Republicans voted yes – Manolakos, Ramone and two Democrats voted no – Atkins, Carson. The rest breaks down on party lines.
This is an absolutely awesome moment for Delaware. Congrats, MJ and to all that will now be able to be recognized couples under the law. It’s a great day indeed. To the Governor: the sooner the better please.
One small step is the best news today. Not having followed this, do we (Delaware) now recognize out of state civil unions?
Hey, won’t it be fun to see what happens when someone goes to see Clerk of the Peace George Parish in Sussex County who ran on a platform of protecting the institution of marriage [between a man and a woman]? As you probably know, the only people who are required to perform civil unions are the Clerks of the Peace and their deputies.
Who will challenge him first?
I’m still confused.
Does this mean I can’t even protest a little when my wife hits me with her riding crop if I screw up doing her toenails?
Just kidding.
I’m happy for MJ and everyone that this means much to.
Way to persevere and get things done.
Yes, Blu, the bill now recognizes same sex unions and marriages performed out-of-state as civil unions.
Which sounds better: “Will you marry me?” or “Will you civil union with me?”?
This is a step in the right direction, but it is still a like a Jim Crow “separate but equal” law. The battle isn’t over until equal rights are achieved, and that means the state either recognizes all civil unions as marriages or it gets out of the regulation of marriages altogether and treats them all equally as civil unions.
Now is a great time to call the legislators who supported this law and ask them to grant full rights and equal recognition of the marriages of all people.
This is a very, very big step in the right direction. As I’ve written before, no one (except David Anderson & co) will say their gay friends/family were civil unioned – they will refer to these ceremonies as marriages.
The reason conservatives are flipping out is they know the fight is over. This was the biggest step. Trying to say civil unions aren’t marriages won’t work when everyone starts referring to them as marriages, starts attending their gay friends weddings, etc.
In everyday life the terminology for civil unions will be the same as for marriage. And once that happens changing the term civil union into marriage will be a no brainer. And since I’m in predicting mode… I’d also guess that when that change comes it won’t be as big of deal, or fight, as this.
@observant eye….
excellent observation.
They are going to have to swallow their hateful tbaggy feelings and do their job as the law requires….. or resign. and THAT is a progressive victory.
@Pandora: I agree about the importance of attending our gay friend’s weddings to winning over hearts and minds. We went to my wife’s college roommate’s wedding to her girlfriend nearly eight years ago in Boston and now they have two wonderful children and a happy life together.
If we are talking of “next steps” to keep this civil rights movement alive, we need to pass legislation to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states as “marriages” here in Delaware. The law passed last night will recognize my friends from Boston’s marriage as merely a civil union while they are in Delaware.
Enough with the empty rhetoric. Its time to put your money where your mouth is.
https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/betterdelegislature?refcode=email041411
would anyone mind explaining the legal differences between CU and marriage? ya know… for the people who might not know…. certainly not ME 😉
I’m curious Cassy. What hand did you have in this process. Given your knowledge and efforts in politics, perhaps you could provide insight into what occurred and how the politics happened.
great post though
Observant Eye – I will be the first one to challenge him, and then I’ll snatch that awful toupee off his head to boot.
And A1 – I don’t care what it’s called as long as I have the same rights, and this bill does exactly that. Many of us in the gay community don’t see this as a “Jim Crow” measure. The only ones spouting that line are the purists and lefteabaggers.
MJ, In your world, I guess only “purists” thought that “separate but equal” was wrong. I think that it is wrong for the state to have different standards and language for different people based on who they love.
Personally, I think the state should get out of the marriage business altogether and only recognize civil unions.
A1 – this bill doesn’t even affect you, so why should you care what it’s called. As I said, I don’t give a rat’s ass what it’s called as long as I’m being given the same rights as any other “married” couple.
I am happy for anybody who was looking forward to the civil unions law. Best wishes and sincere congratulations!
I admit had little part in it, as all my representatives supported it already, and it seemed to be on track to pass. But if my reps had flipped on their position yesterday, they would have gotten an earful from me.
Now for a brief empathy moment: Imagine how you would have felt if it had failed, and all the people you thought were your friends sneered at you for wanting a “pony,” and then explained it was important to compromise so those same officials who denied it could remain in office. Actually, that sort of is the history of gay rights legislation, so maybe you don’t have to imagine.
That’s how I felt when the public option and tax cut expiration for the rich failed due to lack of effort, treachery, or both. I didn’t hear any expressions of sympathy then for the people who were affected, or vows to work harder to win next time. Just a collective shrug, and accusations of wanting a pony.
But now we see sometimes ponies are personal to a lot of people. Let’s go get the rest of the pony herd so we can all win and be as happy as we are today.
Congratulations, and sneer away.
pandora, I agree with your sentiments regarding everyday terminology, but it is important that the law grants equal rights to everybody.
It’s a BIG step. All the steps after this will be taken in stride. This step was possible because people came to accept gay people in their lives. Marriage will become the term because people will call it that.
MJ has every right to be thrilled, and he’s under no obligation – from someone who isn’t in his shoes – to be told he should thumb his nose at this and hold out for something better. Only someone who doesn’t have skin in the game would suggest such a thing.
Congratulations on your upcoming MARRIAGE, MJ. Hope I’ll be invited to the WEDDING!
Congratulations on your upcoming MARRIAGE, MJ. Hope I’ll be invited to the WEDDING!
Seconded. I’m not going to call them civil unions, unless the couple wants me to call them that.
But anon… civil unions are the compromise. People that support gay marriage look at civil unions as the next step towards this goal.
So with the public option. And with the tax cut expiraton, there was no need to compromise; the win was in the bag unless we pushed it away, and we did. We shot our own pony in our barn, and now we want it back.
this bill doesn’t even affect you, so why should you care what it’s called.
The insensitivity and boorishness of that statement is breathtaking. How can you possibly know how it affects me? And, regardless, the attitude that I shouldn’t care about the equal rights of others if it doesn’t affect me personally is stunning coming from a writer on a liberal blog.
The battle isn’t over until all people have the same and equal rights under the law.
That’s all I have to say on this subject.
to continue the pony metaphor…..
This is like wanting a purebred white pony (full marriage) and getting a still beautiful spotted pony that runs just as fast is easy to get along with….. also, your a-hole neighbors still dont want you to have it so you make sure the stable door faces their lawn…. there was a compromise that allowed us to stil get 99% of what we wanted.
the public option and forcing the people who have been hoarding the wealth of this nation to pay their fair share…. We wanted a pony, and the compromise got us a pile of horseshit. (metaphor king)
“The insensitivity and boorishness of that statement is breathtaking. How can you possibly know how it affects me? And, regardless, the attitude that I shouldn’t care about the equal rights of others if it doesn’t affect me personally is stunning coming from a writer on a liberal blog.”
as breathtaking as you telling someone who this bill DEFIANTLY effects that they are somehow wrong for being happy about this?
I have served on the EqualityDelaware board, and saw the hard decisions, including going for civil unions versus marriage. It is not accurate to say that marriage was ‘in the bag.’ that is not even close to reality. Bill Humphrey hasn’t been able to get A SINGLE LEGISLATOR to sponsor his gay marriage bill.
While the state may be ready for gay marriage, our current General Assembly is not.
EqualityDelaware was able to get SB30 passed through very hard work. The legislation creation was primarily the herculean effort of wilmington attorney mark purpura. the HRC provided welcome guidance, and also financial support (two key expenses that were necessary were for the poll, which showed that DE citizens support civil unions by a 2:1 ratio, which helped our legislators feel more comfortable with their votes, and the Williams Institute report, which put hard numbers on the cost of the bill, which helped our legislators work with real numbers, rather than the made up ones the Republican Representatives were throwing around yesterday–facts matter, and in some cases, it costs money to obtain the facts).
EqualityDelaware built a large coalition, including of faith communities. HRC has found that this can often be the tipping factor for civil union legislation–it certainly was in Washington DC, and it was certainly a factor in Dover.
Many volunteers made many, many phone calls, including to sponsoring legislators, thanking them for their support. Coalition members with good relationships with ‘fence-sitting’ legislators were able to conduct calm discussions on the legislation’s merits.
The bottom line–hard work was conducted, and it paid off.
Thank you for being part of that hard work. And thanks for not throwing out the baby with the bath water!
Let me give a slightly different slant on the marriage/CU question. I am a 64-year old (heterosexually) married bisexual who has no plans on divorcing Em and marrying a guy. If I were — and lived in Delaware — I’d be overjoyed at the passage of the bill, and let me celebrate all those who take advantage of it.
But I have one — purely personal — reason for wishing it had been ‘marriage’ in name as well as in fact. I grew up in a lesbian household — yes, they existed in the Ozzie & Harriet 50s — and my strongest personal commitment to gay rights has not been for myself but in honor of Billie (my birth mother) and Claire (her partner of over 30 years).
Claire died two months before Stonewall, Billie died a few years afterwards. Even though everybody in my suburban town knew their relationship. they never had the opportunity to march, hand in hand, down 5th Avenue showing the world their love. They never could have dreamed that someday, in some states, they could have gotten married.
I simply want other people to have what they never could, and that does involve not just the fact, but the word, ‘marriage.’
Pandora and UI – you will be invited, as will the rest of my DL family.
Maryland tried to push for full marriage equality and look at where that ended up. Until the federal government recognizes marriage equality, it doesn’t matter what it’s called, it’s going to be separate and unequal. So you can gamble on marriage equality and hope you don’t end up with nothing, or you can go for civil unions and have a much better shot of advancing the cause of equality. I live in Virginia and I would welcome civil rights regardless of what name they’re filed under.
Oh Noes! Now
the world will end,my kids will become gay,my marriage is now meaningless, consenting adults can now decide something for themselves.