Politico is reporting that Democratic governor Jack Markell signed the bill into law just minutes after it passed in the Senate by a 12-9 vote.
"Delaware should be, is and will be a welcoming place to live and love and to raise a family for all who call our great state home," Markell said.
Led by Equality Delaware, a gay rights group, the bill was introduced into the Democratic-controlled legislature not long after the state approved same-sex civil unions. The new law doesn't give these couples any more rights than they had under the civil union law, but will now afford them the title of marriage.
"Let's be careful about the concept of social evolution," said Father Leonard Klein, a spokesman for the Diocese of Wilmington. "When you remove male and female from the definition of marriage, all bets are off," he said, and urged lawmakers to show an "appropriate humility" for thousands of years of human experience.
While the bill includes an exception for religious institutions, it does not protect Christian business owners who refuse to provide marriage-related services to homosexual couples, making them subject to discrimination claims.
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