Delaware Gov Expects Marriage Equality in 2013

Delaware Governor Jack Markell, says
 that gay marriage in his state is "inevitable"

The Democratic Governor of Delaware, Jack Markell, who also happens to be the nation's only Jewish governor, gave an interview to Huffington Post  where he says that it is "inevitable" that his state will have to consider and probably legalize marriage equality. Gov. Markell signed Delaware's civil unions bill into law in May 2011 but has endorsed having his state end civil marriage discrimination against same-sex couples:

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."

This is a pretty cool statement from a Governor who is up for re-election this November. The number of states that will have marriage equality this time next year could be in the double digits! Anyone want to start a betting pool? States like Maine, Maryland, Washington, Rhode Island, Illinois and Delaware have a pretty good chance of joining the "marriage equality" list in 2013. Note all these states are "blue" states. Coincidence? Doubtful!