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"America&amp;#039;s first state is now the  11th state to approve same-sex marriages. On Tuesday, just a few minutes after a  12-9 state senate vote passed the measure, Governor Jack Markell signed the bill into law, allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry in Delaware. The new legislation will not formally take effect until July 1 of this year, and no civil unions will be performed in the state after this date.   With Rhode Island state legislators passing a similar law last week, the Vice President Joe Biden&amp;#039;s home state  joins almost all of the Northeastern states in legalizing gay marriage, with the exceptions of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Maryland, Washington, DC, Maine, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Massachusetts all have marriage equality laws on the books, as do Iowa and Washington state. Despite the growing list of states legalizing the practice, same-sex marriages are  still banned in most states.   A USA Today poll  found that the most common reason for opposition is religion.  Delaware&amp;#039;s same-sex marriage bill doesn&amp;#039;t give gay couples any additional rights or benefits that a civil union provides, but existing civil unions will be converted to marriages over the next year, according to the new measure.   Do you think more states will legalize gay marriage? Comment below! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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