Reacting to yesterday’s historic passage of marriage equality, Nicole Theis, president of the Delaware Family Policy Council, told the Dover News Journal that the idea of gender is somehow under attack because of the advance of LGBT equality:

Nicole Theis, president of the Delaware Family Policy Council, said changing the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples will have broad, untold consequences for society.

“It won’t stop here. Making marriage genderless changes the way government views parents. You can expect all government’s forms to reflect this. You can also expect further attacks on gender, probably even this session,” she said, alluding to a proposal that has not yet been filed that would extend nondiscrimination laws to cover transgender individuals.

Theis isn’t entirely wrong. Gender is a socially-constructed phenomenon, and thus it is pliable. Given how many consequences it has for society — particularly ongoing inequity for women and oppression of LGBT people — there is considerable impetus to dissect gender so that it can be better understood. Conservatives like Theis argue that gender norms are important and should be maintained — that fathers should be masculine and mothers should be feminine and these gender roles impact their parenting ability. But research on parenting doesn’t bear this out at all; in fact, there is nothing to suggest that the children of same-sex couples have any different understanding of gender than anyone else.

Further, attempting to reinforce gender norms through the law isn’t going to change whether people are transgender. Protecting transgender people from discrimination doesn’t increase how many people are transgender any more than not protecting transgender people will decrease how many people are transgender. The question underlying all LGBT issues is whether everybody should have the same opportunity to achieve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, even if they are members of sexual or gender minorities. This means expanding how society understands and interacts gender instead of clinging to narrow prescriptions of the past. It’s just unfortunate that Theis sees this progress as an “attack.”

Just now, the Delaware Senate voted 12-9, to approve marriage equality legislation (HB 75), guaranteeing that Delaware will become the 11th state that recognizes same-sex couples’ marriages. The law will take effect July 1. Civil unions, which Delaware previously legalized in 2011, will convert to marriages after one year. The House passed the marriage equality bill two weeks ago by a 23-18 vote and Gov. Jack Markell (D) has promised to sign it.

The rhetoric today was heated, as religious leaders invited to speak by the bill’s opponents condemned homosexuality for multiple hours. Conservative witnesses and senators alike repeatedly sought explanations for why people should not be free to discriminate against same-sex couples, even though such discrimination is already illegal under Delaware law. Many argued that marriage is primarily about raising children, ignoring that many same-sex families are already raising children in Delaware. Unsurprisingly, one witness cited the debunked Regnerus study, while an Alliance Defending Freedom attorney claimed that the Ocean Grove pavilion in New Jersey was an example of “religious freedom” being violated, even though it wasn’t. A motion by opponents to table the bill failed 9-12.

During the final floor speeches, Sen. Karen Peterson (D) passionately shared her personal experiences as a lesbian with her colleagues — coming out publicly for the first time:

PETERSON: No one chose to be gay. We are what God made us. We don’t need to be fixed. We aren’t broken. [...]

My partner Vicki and I have been together for 24 years. Last year, we entered into a civil union. [...]

If my happiness somehow demeans or diminishes your marriage, you need to work on your marriage.

Rhode Island became the 10th state to legalize same-sex marriage just last week, Minnesota may be primed to become the 12th state perhaps as soon as later this week, and Illinois is also within “striking distance” of passing legislation.

As expected, the Delaware Senate Executive Committee voted 4-2 today to advance marriage equality legislation. Only one final vote remains for the bill to become law, and the Senate is expected to take that vote on Tuesday. Delaware would become the 11th state (plus the District of Columbia) to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples, following closely in the wake of Rhode Island, which will finalize its law on Thursday.

Next Wednesday, the Delaware Senate’s Executive Committee will consider HB 75, the same-sex marriage equality bill that passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday. Should it clear committee — which ThinkProgress has confirmed it likely will — the leadership would then be free to bring up the bill at any time they believed they had sufficient votes to pass it.

Seven of the Senate’s 21 members are official sponsors or co-sponsors of the measure. They include Senate President Pro Tempore Patricia Belvins, Majority Whip Margaret Rose Henry, and Senators Harris McDowell III, Karen Peterson, Nicole Poore, and Bryan Townend — all Democrats. Senate Majority Leader David McBride (D) told ThinkProgress today that he will also vote YES on the bill and Sen. Brian Bushweller (D) pledged his support earlier this week.

Of the four other Senate Democrats, two conservatives voted against the state’s civil union’s law in 2011 and have vocally opposed same-sex marriage: Sens. Bruce Ennis and Robert Venables. Sen. Robert Marshall and Sen. Bethany Hall-Long have not yet made their positions clear.

Of the Senate’s eight Republicans, Sen. Catherine Cloutier is considered by observers the most likely to back the bill. Sen. Ernesto Lopez is also considered to be a possibility.

The six-person executive committee includes supporters Blevins, Henry, McBride, and McDowell. This means the bill will pass 4-2, regardless of the votes of Republican Minority Leader F. Gary Simpson and Minority Whip Gregory Lavelle.

In the full Senate, the bill would require 11 votes (2 more than currently pledged) should all Senators be present. In the event of a tie, marriage equality supporter Matt Denn (D), the state’s Lt. Gov., could cast the deciding vote. Gov. Jack Markell has promised to sign the bill should it reach his desk.

Adding to the good news of the day, the Delaware House of Representatives has approved marriage equality (HB 75) by a vote of 23-18. It now proceeds to the Senate, where it must pass out of committee before the full chamber considers it. Advocates are optimistic about passage. Governor Jack Markell (D) has strongly backed the bill. Marriage equality has the support of Delaware’s entire Congressional delegation, DuPont chemicals (one of its largest employers), and 54 percent of voters. The state easily passed civil unions in 2011.

The National Organization for Marriage is frantically trying to organize against marriage equality in Delaware, even though the legislation is expected to pass fairly easily. A House committee already advanced the bill this week with a 4-1 vote. NOM’s urgent email sent out on Thursday points out that Delaware does not have a referendum process, so once marriage for same-sex couples is law, there is no popular mechanism for undoing it. Furthermore, NOM is quite bitter that the civil unions passed two years ago are already giving way to marriage, calling them a “Trojan Horse”:

So much for civil unions being a compromise.

Just two years ago, gay marriage advocates pushed through a civil unions bill, claiming it would be a compromise that respected the definition of marriage and the rights of religious believers, while at the same time guaranteeing protections for same-sex couples.

And once again, civil unions are being exposed as nothing more than a Trojan Horse.

NOM has consistently proven it’s duplicity when it comes to the flip-flopping positions it takes on civil unions. In Rhode Island, where NOM has been more active in the past, the organization strongly opposed civil unions, but when The Ocean State began considering marriage, NOM suddenly began defending civil unions. It is now attempting this same tactic in Delaware, claiming that civil unions are good because they “guarantee protections” for same-sex couples and were a “compromise,” even though NOM has never actually demonstrated concern for same-sex couples, let alone agreed to support civil unions.

It’s worth noting that NOM’s email is also rife with violent rhetoric: Delaware is a “target” that same-sex marriage activists “have already placed… in the crosshairs,” “support the battle for marriage,” “this is a critical fight,” and of course the Trojan Horse was a war tactic. With such rhetoric trying to prevent same-sex families from enjoying legal protections, it’s hard to actually believe NOM has any concern for those couples’ “protections,” which makes this rhetorical strategy the real Trojan Horse.

According to Equality Delaware, the Delaware House Administration Committee just voted 4-1 to advance marriage equality legislation to the full House. The legislation is expected to pass both chambers and Gov. Jack Markell (D) has committed to sign it into law. Marriage equality has the support of Delaware’s entire Congressional delegation, one of its largest employers, DuPont chemicals, and 54 percent of voters. The state easily passed civil unions in 2011.

Following the lead of several of his Democratic colleagues, Sen. Tom Carper (DE) has endorsed marriage equality “after a great deal of soul searching,” according to a post on his Facebook page:

As our society has changed and evolved, so too has the public’s opinion on gay marriage — and so has mine. I pray every day for God to grant me the wisdom to do what is right. Through my prayers and conversations with my family and countless friends and Delawareans, I’ve been reminded of the power of one of my core values: the Golden Rule. It calls on us to treat others as we want to be treated. That means, to me, that all Americans ultimately should be free to marry the people they love and intend to share their lives with, regardless of their sexual orientation, and that’s why today, after a great deal of soul searching, I’m endorsing marriage equality.

Carper joins Rep. John Carner (D), Delaware’s only member of Congress, who also came out for same-sex marriage this week.

There are now 49 members of the Senate who support the freedom to marry and only seven Senate Democrats who still do not.

The state of Delaware’s only member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. John Carney (D), expressed his full support for marriage equality on Monday:

I’ve supported Delaware’s journey toward marriage equality because I believe the law should recognize the committed relationships of same-sex couples.  As a Catholic and as an elected official, I’ve been dedicated to striking the balance between honoring the religious sacrament of marriage, while allowing same-sex couples to enjoy legal recognition of their committed relationships. [...]

I continue to respect and support the rights of religious institutions to define marriage in accordance with the tenets of their faith. However, I do not believe it is right for the government to treat couples differently based on their sexual orientation. Marriage equality will ensure that same-sex couples in Delaware receive the same treatment under the law.

Indeed, Delaware state legislators are expected to take up the question of same-sex marriage this year, but the legislation has not yet been introduced. On the other side of the Capitol, Delaware Sen. Chris Coons (D) has been a stalwart ally to the LGBT community, but Sen. Tom Carper’s (D) position on same-sex marriage is still “evolving.”