Eleven states of fifty in the US now recognise same sex marriages, after Delaware’s state Senate approved the gay marriage bill 12-9 after a 3 hour debate.
Just a week after Rhode Island passed a law recognising same sex marriage, Delaware has become the 11th state in the US to legally recognise gay marriage.
However the bill, which comes into force on the 1st July, doesn’t offer same-sex couples any more rights or laws than they already have under civil unions.
The state began recognising same-sex civil unions just under a year ago, the new bill is more of a symbolic win for the state’s many lesbian and gay people.
The new law doesn’t force religious establishments to perform same-sex marriages that conflict with their beliefs, but under an existing law enforced in Delaware is a ban on business owners discriminating based on sexual orientation.
According to The Republic.com Minnesota is next on the list of states to legalise gay marriage, the mid west state, is poised to make the new law, after a Democratic speaker of the state house said, ‘that a gay marriage bill endorsed by the governor and likely to pass in the state Senate also now has enough backing in his chamber. The House will vote on the measure Thursday, and if it passes, the Democratic-led Senate could vote on it as soon as Saturday.’
