Rhode Island

Gay Marriage 2013: It's Not the End-All For the LGBT Rights Movement

Submitted by ONE Community on May 11, 2013 - 3:03pm

This past week, there has been a massive media flurry about marriage equality, with both Delaware and Rhode Island both passing marriage equality laws and the Minnesota House voting to legalize same-sex marriage. News networks have been lauding the progress made by the LGBTQ movement, and to be fair, I was pretty excited myself. I mean, three states in one week isn't too shabby. I was starting to think that, just maybe, LGBTQ equality could become a reality in the United States.

Then I saw this infographic. Read more »

ONE Community

Chafee signs same-sex marriage bill after House gives final OK 56-15

Submitted by ONE Community on May 2, 2013 - 4:08pm

Same-sex marriage will be legal in Rhode Island starting Aug. 1 after the R.I. House of Representatives gave final approval to the legislation Thursday, thrilling supporters who've been pushing the issue at the State House for 16 years.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee signed the bill into law at a ceremony on the South Steps of the State House Thursday evening, where he was joined by Rhode Island's congressional delegation, state lawmakers and advocates for same-sex marriage. Read more »

ONE Community

Rhode Island Poised To Approve Gay Marriage

Submitted by ONE Community on May 2, 2013 - 2:41pm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Rhode Island is poised to join nine other states and the District of Columbia in allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee planned to sign gay marriage legislation into law Thursday evening, immediately following a final procedural vote in the state's General Assembly. The outcome of the vote is not in doubt.

Hundreds are expected to gather at the Statehouse to celebrate the new law, which has already passed the House and Senate once. The first weddings could take place Aug. 1, when the new law would take effect. Read more »

ONE Community

Coordinated Strategy Propelled Gay Marriage in RI

Submitted by ONE Community on April 28, 2013 - 11:17am

Phone banks, an army of volunteers and alliances with organized labor, business leaders and religious clergy propelled gay marriage to victory in Rhode Island this week, a savvy and coordinated strategy that relied on growing public support and old-fashioned bare-knuckle politics.

Gay marriage legislation had failed every year in Rhode Island since 1997, leaving the heavily Catholic state the lone holdout in New England as the five other states changed their marriage laws. That’s soon set to change. The state Senate voted Wednesday to allow gay marriage, and Gov. Lincoln Chafee plans to sign the bill into law following a final, procedural vote in the House next week. Read more »

ONE Community

Gay Marriage Measure Advances in Rhode Island

Submitted by ONE Community on April 24, 2013 - 3:20pm

Rhode Island took a step on Tuesday toward becoming the 10th state to approve same-sex marriage when a major legislative committee forwarded a marriage bill to the State Senate.

By a vote of 7 to 4, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, while allowing religious leaders who oppose such marriages to refuse to perform them. The landmark vote by the full Senate could come on Wednesday. Gay rights advocates said that they think they have the votes to prevail, all but ensuring adoption of same-sex marriage by the only state in New England that does not already allow it. Read more »

ONE Community

Rhode Island House easily passes gay marriage bill; legislation could face challenge in Senate

Submitted by ONE Community on January 24, 2013 - 11:27pm

The Rhode Island House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly passed legislation to allow gays and lesbians to marry in the only New England state where they can’t.

The House voted 51-19 after an often emotional debate that touched on civil rights, religion and the nature of marriage. The bill now moves to the Senate, where both supporters and opponents of gay marriage say it is difficult to predict the bill’s fate.

“This has been a long journey,” said House Speaker Gordon Fox, who is gay and supported same-sex legislation when it was first introduced in 1997. “Today is a great day. Today ... we stand for equality, we stand for justice.” Read more »

ONE Community

Rainbow Over the White House: Could Americans Elect an Openly Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual President?

Submitted by ONE Community on April 18, 2012 - 12:20am

From The Huffington Post:

In an era when neither race nor gender, Catholicism nor Mormonism, seem to be insurmountable obstacles for presidential aspirants, could American voters ever elect an openly lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) president? The question has certainly been asked before, and no less a presidential expert than Jimmy Carter argued in late 2010 that this could happen "in the near future," based on rapid pro-gay shifts in public opinion. But several formidable hurdles, and one in particular, still remain. Read more »

ONE Community

Rhode Island governor signs civil union bill into law

Submitted by Angela Hughey on July 5, 2011 - 4:34pm

By David Ariosto, CNN
July 2, 2011 1:13 p.m. EDT Read more »

Angela Hughey's blog

R.I. House approves civil unions

Submitted by ONE Community on May 24, 2011 - 10:38am

PROVIDENCE — For David Olsen and Leonard Flood, Thursday’s vote by the Rhode Island House of Representatives will not bring equality, but it could be a step toward some tangible benefits — more affordable health coverage for Flood, fewer legal hurdles as they plan for the future, and perhaps, greater acceptance.

The couple, who married in Massachusetts last fall, are among those who see the 62-to-11 House vote as a victory.

“Marriage equality is our number-one priority, but we’ll take the civil unions bill,” said Olsen, 57, who is treasurer for the City of Warwick. “What I would be disappointed in is if nothing passed.” Read more »

ONE Community