Rhode Island Becomes 10th State to Allow Same-Sex Marriage
On May 2, 2013, Rhode Island became the 10th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Governor Lincoln Chafee signed the bill into law in a ceremony on the steps of the Statehouse in Providence. Hundreds of people showed up to take part in the celebration.
Although supporters of same-sex marriage have been attempting to legalize gay marriage in Rhode Island since 1997, they had been unable to gain momentum until recent years. Because Rhode Island is a heavily Roman Catholic state, the state has faced intense opposition to gay marriage. Until January 2013, no measure had been voted out of committee.Gay marriage supporters had little hope of legalizing gay marriage from 2003 through 2011, when the socially conservative Republican Donald Carcieri served as the governor of Rhode Island. However, the tides have been changing dramatically over the last decade as support for gay marriage increased. Gordon D. Fox was first elected to the state legislature in 1992. He came out publicly in 2004. In 2010, Fox became the first openly gay Speaker of the House in the United States.
The movement toward legalizing gay marriage was buffered by lobbying efforts that were supported by labor leaders, clergy and political leaders. In 2008, members of the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) began the “Six by Twelve” campaign with the goal of legalizing gay marriage throughout New England by 2012.
Governor Chafee had advocated for the expansion of marriage rights before he took office in 2011. That year, state lawmakers passed a law creating civil unions for same-sex couples. This action was unpopular for both advocates and opponents of same-sex marriage. Because gay marriage was already legal in neighboring states, few citizens took advantage of the civil union laws.
Passage of the Same-Sex Marriage Law
In January, the Rhode Island House of Representatives passed a same-sex marriage measure by a margin of 51 to 19. In April, the Senate approved a modified version that expanded religious protections to specify that no religious leader is required to perform a same-sex marriage ceremony. The state’s House of Representatives approved this version of the bill by a margin of 56-15. Governor Chafee signed the bill into law on May 2, 2013. The law will take effect on August 1. With the passage of this law, Rhode Island became the sixth and final New England state to legalize same-sex marriage.
Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, the head of the Diocese of Providence, had become a leading voice against gay marriage in Rhode Island. He has denounced gay marriage as immoral, claiming that the change in Rhode Island’s existing marriage law was unnecessary. Tobin has cautioned Rhode Island Catholics to “examine their consciences” before supporting or attending gay weddings.
Governor Chafee has recognized the issue of marriage equality as a major generational shift. He has advocated for gay marriage as a way to boost the state economy, claiming that marriage equality will make Rhode Island a more welcoming place for business owners, entrepreneurs and members of the younger generation.
The concept and institution of marriage predate Christianity. Archeologists have discovered that many ancient cultures had same sex couples who joined their lives together in a faith based ceremony. Christians don’t have a monopoly on marriage.
Talking about the Bible this and the Bible that. Like seriously so what if the Bible said its a sin we are all sinners. I bet most of you have had sex before marriage and in the Bible that a sin too. If you don't live your whole life by the Bible you have no right to say anything about gay marriage, So please grow up its 2013 and the world is changing. Let them be happy they are not doing anything to you.
The Old Testament’s prohibition on homosexual activity was not the cruel imposition of a dictator, but the wise provision of a loving God who desired to see His chosen people grow in love. Perhaps (though there is no explicit evidence for this in the text) at some point the intensity of David and Jonathan’s affection for each other might have spilled over into sexual temptations. If so, the “delight in the law of the Lord” which moved David to song protected them from sin and kept their souls knit together in a pure and spiritual love.
In the same way, by declaring the “truth of God” that homosexual acts are sinful, the New Testament helps those of us who struggle with same-sex attractions to discover what it means to “worship the Father in spirit and in truth.”
But because love is the heart of the Gospel, Satan always tries to fool us with counterfeits of true love. Against these counterfeits, the Apostles and Prophets warn us again and again. God is love, and so nothing that is against His will can be love. He only approves of certain kinds of love, but punishes His people for loving idols, foreign women in the case of Israel, foreign deities, multiple wives, money, sexual love between close relations (incest), etc.
We do not always understand these prohibitions; God’s reasons for forbidding gay relationships may seem like dim shadow in a mirror to us when we first confront them. But it is love, not understanding, which God most desires from us. To place our hopes in Him even when we do not understand His ways is a mark of great faith, and even greater love.
It is not an easy path, and just as the Apostle Paul expressed the struggle between flesh and spirit, all of us will face struggles. But when we struggle, or when we fail, we should not lose hope. Rather, we should remember that Jesus said even of the soldiers who killed Him, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). And even when we fall again and again to the same familiar sins, we should remember that Christ told Peter to forgive others not seven times, but seventy times seven times (cf. Matthew 18:22). If God commands such mercy from us, how much more will He, who is Mercy Himself, show mercy to us in our weakness?
It also brought alive an important theme from the Psalms, the great prayerbook of the People of God: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalms 1:1-3). For those who follow the Law with all their heart, it becomes a source of life, strength, and peace of spirit.
Rhode Island gay marriage bill passed recently, add another one to the list!
@ Bebheann Conlin: For I can tell you know absolutely nothing about Theology (Study of the Bible) at all. Jesus died for our sins, yes. That does NOT mean at ANY TERMS WHAT SO EVER that you go and break the 10 commandments or sin purposely at anytime, because you are now using God and you will NOT be forgiven of that sin at-all. Even if being Gay is a sin, Jesus has died for Every Single One Of OUR SINS and God understands exactly of what all gay people are going through. God loves any and everyone on this earth including myself, regardless of your horrific opinons, which I highly disrespect because of your lack of wisdom of God and the Bible. As being gay, Jesus is still answering my prayers every-single-day, I have thousands upon THOUSANDS of testimonies to give to you, if you would like to watch me prove them to you one day while watching, I would more than happy to allow you to watch. There are a TON, if not MILLIONS of mistranslations in the Bible, again you should know this if you study the Bible and know Theology. You are to "treat others the way you want to be treated", look it up in the Bible , it is there… and also look up Proverbs 15:32 "He ignores discipline despises himself, he who heeds correction gains unerstanding" which should ring a very loud bell for yourself. – Chase Smith
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and I forgot to say…. the bible condemns all sin, so does this mean that heterosexuals can steal, kill, and disobey the commandments, but a homosexual who follows all the commandments will immediately be damned to Hell?
Justin Snyder,
First off, apparently, Christians are taught that God loves all his people equally. Who's to say he doesn't love homosexuals? If you can give me 5 exact out of the bible quotes that say that homosexuality is an abomination, then I may respect your belief. But having read the bible while a part of my church, where one of our deacons was homosexual, there are NO exact quotes that outright ban homosexuality. As Lynn Lavner says "the bible contains 6 admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn't mean God doesn't love heterosexuals…" And within those 6 homosexual admonishments one of which actually translates along the lines to a man with many wives, reducing those six admonishments to only 5.
By the way, I'm a bisexual….. does that mean God doesn't love me?
In case you were unaware, there is something called Separation of Church and State. The Church has no right to influence the laws of the state and to decide what is and isn't illegal. The pledge of allegiance also states: "…with liberty and justice for all." The pledge of allegiance does not specify with liberty and justice for heterosexuals only. It says for all. This means blacks, whites, hetero and homosexuals. Everyone. Just as the civil rights movement years ago changed life for blacks, the gay rights movement today will change life for homosexuals. Accept the change that is happening. One day, each state will allow homosexuals to marry and there nothing that will stop that day from coming. It may be years, even decades from now. But it will happen. A hateful generation is dying out and a new, more open and accepting generation is rising. Chaos and confusion of the world will not ensure. Homosexuality already exist as do marriages and adoptions between them. Accept the fact that times are changing and there is little that one man can do about it.
If you read Leviticus in the Old Testament, Chapter 20 verse 13, you will see that homosexuality is an abomination. The Bible is the word of God. The founding fathers of the United States Constitution, believed in God. The pledge of allegiance states:
"…and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
It is clear this nation was formed under a belief in obedience to our creator, our God! God has told us that homosexuality is an abomination. It is unnatural and not a design of God. There is not one person on earth who was born from Homosexuality or Homosexual parents. Not one! If homosexuality flourished, children would no longer be born on earth and earth will stop being populated. Earth would fall. Homosexuality is wickedness and again, is stated in the Bible as an abomination. Enforcing non-discrimination of homosexuality in effect allows it to occur. Law enforcement then will begin to arrest individuals for violation of this "so-called discrimination of homosexuals" and good honest heterosexual people will begin to lose their freedom. Families will be broken up and children will not be born to homosexuals. Life on Earth would turn to chaos and confusion.
Please outlaw homosexuality and conform to the laws of God. It is God who created all of us and it is HIS will that will bring peace and prosperity. Wickedness never was happiness and never will be. We must learn to obey our creator as the founding fathers desired.