Annual Meeting hears from Electeds

The Dover Century Club auditorium was nearly full at the annual meeting of the Barbara Gittings Delaware Stonewall Democrats on Saturday, January 14th. President Mitch Crane deftly conducted the business of the annual meeting while inviting elected officials in attendance to give remarks as they appeared, allowing these busy people to move on to other appointments. In the business meeting, Norm Spector, of New Castle County, was elected Vice President-Development to fill the unexpired term of Betty Deacon, who resigned to dedicate her time to the upcoming elections. Executive Vice President Steve Kotrch guided to approval much needed by-laws amendments. Membership Vice President Larry Peterson reported on the progress of the "Trans Task Force" he heads-dedicated to gaining protection and rights for that important segment of our community.

Political Vice President Peter Schott reported on the legislative victories of 2011-the passage of the Delaware Civil Union law and the repeal in Congress of DADT-and detailed the key legislative races in Delaware this year. Peter also introduced Stonewall's first endorsed candidates for 2012- Stonewall President Mitch Crane-running for Insurance Commissioner, and Stonewall member Andy Staton, seeking election to the new 6th District Senate seat in Sussex County. Treasurer Larry Hooker gave the annual budget report for Stonewall and for the Stonewall PAC.

The membership was addressed by US Senator Tom Carper and Congressman John Carney, both of who stressed their support for the Delaware Civil Union law and the repeal of DADT. Delaware State Treasurer Chip Flowers re-iterated his continued support for equality for all.

The most stirring remarks were delivered by State Senator Mike Katz-who chaired the committee that heard testimony on the Civil Union Bill and who revealed that initially he did not have the votes to get the Bill to the floor, doing "what (he) had to do" to get that majority. State Senator Brian Bushweller and State Representative Darryl Scott each spoke about their support of the civil union legislation and the anti-discrimination bills before that, even if those votes cost them in their Kent County districts.

Non-endorsed Insurance Commissioner Karen Stewart was introduced and made extensive remarks, but did not address issues of concern to consumers or the Stonewall membership.

Barbara Gittings Delaware Stonewall Democrats
Annual Report of Political VP

When Delaware Stonewall was established in 2003, we had as our prime missions, the support of pro-equality candidates for State office and the passage of pro-equality legislation. Since then, as you know, in coalition with other groups, our State Legislature has passed both non-discrimination and, as part of our 2011 legislative package, passage of the Civil Union bill.

The role we played in recent years, to assure the election of pro-equality legislators cannot be denied.  The State House of Representatives has gone from being in the hands of the Republicans to a Democratic majority. We early on endorsed Jack Markell for Governor, and he has proven to be very supportive.

Several Stonewall members this year met with our Federal elected officials to ask them to support repeal of DADT. Senators Carper and Coons, who we endorsed early, and Representative Carney, who we also endorsed, were supportive of the repeal.

So, overall, we had a good year, but our mission is not over, as we still have a lot to accomplish in ’12 and beyond.  We must assist those legislators whose votes were crucial in passage of Civil Unions, and we hope to help secure the seats of additional positive legislators.  We also have reached the crucial stage of making sure that open GLBT persons are elected and appointed. Your support and assistance is vital if we are to achieve our goals.

Civil Union Law goes into effect New Year's Day

The Civil Union Law passed by the Delaware General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Markell last Spring is in effect as of 10am on New Year's Day.  We are happy to pass along this important fact sheet created by the University of Delaware LGBT Faculty and Staff Caucus. Please find the download link below:

Download Civil Union Fact Sheet here

Review the posts we made as SB30 made its way through the Senate and House? Click on the links below to read about it:

Visit our Legislation page for all the articles we posted on the Civil Union bill »
Download/Print a copy of the full Civil Union bill »