Delaware’s Governor Jack Markell has indicated that his state could be the next one to legalize same-sex marriage. Markell, a Democrat, supports legalizing same-sex marriage, and has said that he believes that marriage equality is inevitable. Currently, same-sex marriage is legal in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Washington DC. Laws legalizing same-sex marriage are on hold pending the November election in Washington State and Maryland, and a law legalizing same-sex marriage is on the ballot in Maine.

Markell stated that he will be doing some leadership on the subject, but that “I think it’s always important to have gubernatorial leadership, but the other thing it’s very helpful to have — the real hero of getting civil unions done [in the state] — was not me. The real hero and heroine were a couple of people who led a group called Equality Delaware.”

Delaware has civil unions currently.

Markell also stated that “The grassroots efforts can be so powerful. So there was a group of people — many of them gay or lesbian but many of them not — who lobbied the heck out of this and they did it all over the state. I think having that group of people who were willing to work very very hard with my support is what it will take.”