Delaware Senator Tom Carper on Tuesday
became the latest Democratic senator to endorse gay marriage.
Carper said in a Facebook post that he
believes the Golden Rule applies to the issue.
“It calls on us to treat others as we
want to be treated,” Carper
said.
“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.”
An online petition asking Carper to
support marriage equality attracted more than 150 signatures.
“Only a handful of Democratic U.S.
Senators do not support marriage equality for same-sex couples and
Delaware's Tom Carper is one of that tiny minority,” Ezra
J. Tempko's petition states. “My marriage to my husband should
be treated equally under the law, and the same is true for other
same-sex couples throughout our state and nation.”
Delaware recognizes gay and lesbian
couples with civil unions, but lawmakers are expected to debate a
marriage equality bill this legislative session.
Carper joins a growing list of U.S.
senators who have recently reversed course on the issue, including
Senator Rob
Portman, a Republican from Ohio, and Democratic Senators Claire
McCaskill of Missouri, Mark
Warner of Virginia, Mark
Begich of Alaska, Jon
Tester of Montana, Jay
Rockefeller of West Virginia, Kay
Hagan of North Carolina and Bob
Casey of Pennsylvania.
Only seven Democratic senators remain
opposed to marriage equality, they are: Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Joe
Donnelly of Indiana, Bill Nelson of Florida, Joe Manchin of West
Virginia, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota
and Tim Johnson of South Dakota.