In the immediate aftermath of the huge victory for gay rights in New York State, Rhode Island chose to make a smaller splash in the water by allowing civil unions for gay couples. In light of the bigger victories, gay rights advocates were outraged at the new legislation, which they called discriminatory. This bill allows gay and lesbian couples to enjoy most of the rights and benefits that married couples in Rhode Island enjoy (Goodnough),.
The bill has already passed in Rhode Island's House of Representatives, and the governor already expressed his willingness to sign it. However, it comes as a little too late for most gay rights advocates. The bill is intended to be a compromise after Gordon D. Fox, the openly gay speaker of the Democratic-controlled House, was unable to obtain enough votes to follow suit with New York and pass a same-sex marriage bill (Goodnough).
In the beginning of Lincoln D. Chafee's term, gay marriage advocates had reason to believe that their wishes would finally come true. Chafee, an independent, originally supported the group. Additionally, Fox, who became speaker last year, was obviously eager to pass the marriage bill. With the states' two closest neighbors, Connecticut and Massachusetts, allowing for gay marriage, as well as New Hampshire and Vermont, the stars seemed to all align. However, when Teresa Paiva Weed, a Democrat and the State Senate president, openly opposed passing the bill, Fox decided not to stir the waters and redirected his focus to passing a bill that allowed civil unions (Goodnough). .
Even though homosexual couples will be allowed to form civil unions, religious organizations do not have to recognize the unions. For instance, Catholic hospitals do not have to allow a lesbian to make medical decisions for her partner, and a Catholic university could choose to deny family medical leave to gay employees (Goodnough).
"It's a permission slip to ignore legal obligations," said Karen L.
