Casual Wednesday has encouraged me to re-post yesterday's statement here from Delaware Right to Marry: "Let them know there is no backing down for want of a vote or two in Maryland." With that in mind, the statement is posted below the fold.
And for those who missed our last diary, here are some of the results of the poll the netroots community helped us pay for. We found a 48% plurality of Delaware registered voters now favor marriage equality, with overwhelming support from young voters and Democrats in particular. It's a huge shift just in the last couple years, and the poll made waves in political circles here.
As a result of vicious, false attacks by well-funded out-of-state organizations with a bigoted agenda, the Maryland marriage equality bill died today in the House of Delegates without a floor vote and will likely not be brought up again this year. While this is without doubt an unfortunate outcome, we at Delaware Right to Marry plan to keep the fight for equality going in the Mid-Atlantic. We will continue to build momentum in the region, now that our friends at Equality Maryland have moved the conversation next door so much closer to success, and we can all hope that both states will have ended marriage discrimination within the next couple years.
Today, we applaud the valiant efforts of Equality Maryland, which came very close to victory. It seems clear that one state succeeding can only help the other to succeed as well, and with that in mind, we hope to be able to announce the introduction of our marriage equality bill in the Delaware legislature very soon.
Thank you for your continued support and encouragement in this struggle for equality.
Sincerely,
Bill Humphrey
Statewide Director
Delaware Right to Marry PAC
Please help us prepare for attacks from national anti-gay organizations, by donating today, if you are able. Your financial support now is critical to our continued strategy development.
On an encouraging note, I think we're pretty close to introducing a marriage equality bill in the Delaware State Senate. When we make an official announcement I will (of course!) make an announcement here. So stay tuned for that...
Maryland shows us that the fight is certainly not won yet but it is also not over yet. This is going to be a long campaign, in all likelihood, but I continue to find encouragement every day, including from you all.
-Bill aka Cpt Robespierre