Same-Sex Marriages Begin in Delaware!

On July 1st, the great state of Delaware became the 11th state in the United States to allow same-sex couples to get married when the recently enacted marriage equality law went into effect yesterday. The first person to get married under the new law was state Senator Karen Peterson who came out publicly for the first time during the debate in the legislative body she serves in and voted for the measure.

Delaware Online reports:

Peterson said even though she was a part of the fight to have gay marriage made legal in the state, and voted for it in the state Senate, she was still in a state of disbelief Monday. For 11 years, she said, the gay community could not get a sexual orientation discrimination bill passed through the state Legislature, and then eight years ago it was like “someone threw a switch and things started to change.” 

Boulden and Family Court Judge Barbara D. Crowell officiated Peterson and Bandy’s wedding. During the ceremony Boulden also stressed the words “lawfully” and “legally” whenever they came up, to the delight of the couple and the crowd.

In Sussex County, Brady’s office opened early, at 7 a.m., to allow couples to apply for marriage licenses, or start converting their civil union licenses into marriage licenses. All Delaware civil unions will automatically convert to legal marriages by July 1, 2014, but government officials in all three counties saw hundreds of people apply Monday to jumpstart that process. 

Congratulations, Delaware! On August 1, Minnesota and Rhode Island will become the 12th and 13th states to allow same-sex couples to get married.