SS1FORSB100 • 2025

AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE I OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO THE RIGHT TO MARRY.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: Huxtable
Last action: 2025-05-21
Official status: Lieu/Substituted 6/5/25
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE I OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO THE RIGHT TO MARRY.

What This Bill Does

AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE I OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO THE RIGHT TO MARRY.
This Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution establishing that the right to marry is a fundamental right and that Delaware and its political subdivisions shall recognize marriages and issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of gender.
The right to marry regardless of gender does not infringe upon the right to freedom of religion because religious organizations and members of the clergy have the right to refuse to solemnize a marriage.
Senate Substitute No.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-03-11 Delaware General Assembly
SS 2 for SB 100 - Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 3 On Its Merits
2025-06-11 Delaware General Assembly
SS 2 for SB 100 - Assigned to Administration Committee in House
2025-06-10 Delaware General Assembly
SS 2 for SB 100 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 16 YES 5 NO
2025-06-05 Delaware General Assembly
Substituted in Senate by SS 2 for SB 100
2025-05-21 Delaware General Assembly
Reported Out of Committee (Executive) in Senate with 3 Favorable, 1 On Its Merits
2025-05-16 Delaware General Assembly
Adopted in lieu of the original bill SB 100, and Assigned to Executive Committee in Senate

Official Summary Text

AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE I OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO THE RIGHT TO MARRY.
This Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution establishing that the right to marry is a fundamental right and that Delaware and its political subdivisions shall recognize marriages and issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of gender. The right to marry regardless of gender does not infringe upon the right to freedom of religion because religious organizations and members of the clergy have the right to refuse to solemnize a marriage.

Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 100 differs from Senate Bill No. 100 by connecting the right to marry with the equality of rights provided under Art. 1, § 21 of the Delaware Constitution on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex.

Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly.

This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

Legislation Document

SPONSOR:

Sen. Huxtable & Sen. Lockman & Sen. Townsend & Rep. Snyder-Hall

Sens. Cruce, Hansen, Hoffner, Paradee, Pinkney, Poore, Seigfried, Sokola, Sturgeon; Reps. Burns, Bush, Gorman, Harris, Heffernan, Lambert, Phillips, Romer, Ross Levin

DELAWARE STATE SENATE

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SENATE SUBSTITUTE NO. 1

FOR

SENATE BILL NO. 100

AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE I OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO THE RIGHT TO MARRY.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein):

Section 1. Amend Article I of the Delaware Constitution by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§ 23. Right to Marry.

The right to marry is a fundamental right that may not be denied or abridged on account of any basis protected under § 21 of this Article.

(1)a. This State and its political subdivisions shall recognize marriages by couples regardless of the gender of the married individuals.

b. This State and its political subdivisions shall issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of the gender of the 2 individuals.

(2) All legally valid marriages must be treated equally under the law.

(3) The right to marry regardless of gender does not modify or infringe upon the right to freedom of religion under § 1 of this Article. Religious organizations and members of the clergy have the right to refuse to solemnize a marriage under this section.

SYNOPSIS

This Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution establishing that the right to marry is a fundamental right and that Delaware and its political subdivisions shall recognize marriages and issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of gender. The right to marry regardless of gender does not infringe upon the right to freedom of religion because religious organizations and members of the clergy have the right to refuse to solemnize a marriage.

Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 100 differs from Senate Bill No. 100 by connecting the right to marry with the equality of rights provided under Art. 1, § 21 of the Delaware Constitution on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex.

Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly.

This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution.

Author: Senator Huxtable