Tag Archives: Rhode Island

All of New England is now officially on the side of equality.  Congratulations Rhode Island!

Watch it live here.

“At this moment of cultural change, it is important to affirm the teaching of the Church, based on God’s word, that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered,’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2357) and always sinful. And because ‘same-sex marriages’ are clearly contrary to God’s plan for the human family, and therefore objectively sinful, Catholics should examine their consciences very carefully …

“When I sign the Marriage Equality Act into law, I will be thinking of the Rhode Islanders who have fought for decades simply to be able to marry the person they love. I will be thinking of how Rhode Island is upholding its legacy as a place founded on the principles of tolerance and diversity. But I will also be …

“At a bare minimum, the [marriage] legislation should be amended to provide all the provisions of the Corvese amendment to our civil union law and to ensure that individuals, small businesses and religious-based charitable and educational groups are not targeted by government or others with lawsuits, fines, denials of contracts and other forms of punishment for refusing to accept this …

Clip recap: “We’re celebrating some major victories with week, with two more states about to gain the freedom to marry. Civil unions begin in Colorado, and voters appear ready to upgrade that to marriage. Plus, legislation advances in Pennsylvania and Nevada.”

“Dear Marriage Supporter: The news this week is tough. I’m not going to sugar coat it. In Rhode Island, all five Republican state senators joined the Democrats in the state senate to pass a same-sex marriage bill. It now goes back to the House which had previously passed a gay marriage bill and the governor has promised to sign it. …

“The Senate has abandoned society’s most important institution and put their constituents on a collision course with the law. Lawmakers have allowed themselves to be fooled into thinking they have protected people of faith when in fact they have put those who believe in true marriage in the crosshairs of the law and gay ‘marriage’ activists. It won’t be long …

Debate has just begun in the Rhode Island Senate. Rhode Island’s 38 senators gathered Thursday afternoon for a historic vote on whether to legalize same-sex in the state, as advocates expressed confidence that they will have enough support to secure passage in the upper chamber. The Senate debate began just before 4:30 p.m. Senate aides estimated there could be one …

The vote before the full state Senate could come as soon as tomorrrow. Zoom, zoom, zoom!

Great news from Freedom To Marry: Today all five Republicans in the Rhode Island Senate announced their support for S38, the marriage bill to end the statewide exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage, and their intention to vote for it on the floor. The bill passed easily in the Rhode Island House of Representatives in January, and the state’s Senate …

Yesterday afternoon NOM posted two separate items urging supporters to contact state legislators in advance to today’s marriage votes in the full Delaware House and Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee. From the Delaware post: The Delaware state Constitution does NOT offer citizens the right to overrule legislators through a voter initiative or constitutional amendment referendum. With nearly 2-1 Democratic majorities …

Clip recap: “Marriage equality continues to spread, with major milestones this week that span from the Great Lakes region to the Mid-Atlantic. Plus, New Zealand becomes the 13th country to legalize the freedom to marry, and international progress continues from Colombia to Vietnam.”

“As the Rhode Island Senate prepares to take action on legislation that would seek to legitimize ‘same-sex marriage,’ I once again urge members of the Senate to stand strong in resisting this immoral and unnecessary proposition and to defend marriage and family as traditionally defined. We should be very clear about this: it is only with grave risk to our …

This chart will surely please the enemies of equality in Rhode Island and Illinois. (Polling data was not available for six states)  Source.

“In light of the historic deliberations of the U.S. Supreme Court on same-sex marriage, it would be appropriate for the General Assembly of Rhode Island to defer any action on this critical issue for the time being. Any legislative action that is taken now could very well be rendered completely null and void by the decision of the Supreme Court …

The Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee stayed up until 5am this morning as the marriage equality hearing ran for more than twelve hours. Some 650 people signed up to speak at the hearing. Christopher Utter and his partner of 20 years, Stephen Pompei, arrived seven hours before the meeting began to make sure they got seats. “We thought about getting …

The Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on its marriage equality bill right now.  Live video here.  Follow along on Twitter at the hashtag #RI4M. GLAD reports that the capitol building is full of supporters and the usual hate groups such as MassResistance.  Keywords so far: blasphemy and abomination. And something about salad dressing. Seriously.  At times …

Marriage Equality USA’s Ned Flaherty makes some bold predictions today at Policy Mic: The next 12 states where legalization is underway are known, and the order in which they’re finishing is now predictable. By the end of 2014, these next 12 states will join the 10 other jurisdictions that already have full marriage equality: Connecticut, District of Columbia, Iowa, Maine, …