Salon.com > David Klepper

Rhode Island legalizes gay marriage

Fri, 03 May 2013 11:32:00 +0000

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island on Thursday became the nation's 10th state to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed, as a 16-year effort to extend marriage rights in this heavily Roman Catholic state ended with the triumphant cheers of hundreds of gays, lesbians, their families and friends.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee signed the bill into law on the Statehouse steps Thursday evening following a final 56-15 vote in the House. The first weddings will take place Aug. 1, when the law takes effect.

"I've been waiting 32 years for this day, and I never thought it would come in my lifetime," said Raymond Beausejour, a 66-year-old gay North Providence man who has been with his partner for 32 years. "For the first time in my life, I feel welcome in my own state."

After Chafee signed the bill, the hundreds of people who gathered on the Statehouse grounds erupted into cheers as a chorus sang "Chapel of Love."

"Now, at long last, you are free to marry the person that you love," Chafee told the crowd.

The day was bittersweet for Deborah Tevyaw, whose wife, state corrections officer Pat Baker, succumbed to lung cancer two years ago. Months before she died, Baker, relying on an oxygen tank, angrily told lawmakers it was unfair that Tevyaw wasn't considered her wife in Rhode Island despite their marriage in Massachusetts.

Rhode Island Senate votes to legalize same-sex marriage

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:31:00 +0000

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island senators put the state on the path Wednesday to becoming the 10th state to allow same-sex couples to marry.

The gay marriage legislation easily passed the Rhode Island House in January, and the Senate vote was seen as the true test. The bill passed 26-12, and now returns to the House for a largely procedural vote, likely next week, before going to Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who supports the legislation.

"This is a historic piece of legislation, one that literally has been in the works for more than 20 years," said Sen. Donna Nesselbush, D-Pawtucket, the bill's main sponsor in the Senate. "This is something that undoes centuries of discrimination against gay and lesbian couples."

While the other five New England states already allow gay marriage, heavily Catholic Rhode Island has been a hold-out. Supporters this year mounted an aggressive and coordinated campaign that included organized labor, religious leaders, business owners and leaders including Chafee and Providence Mayor Angel Taveras.

The bill's chances improved when Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed said she would allow the bill to move forward, despite her opposition to gay marriage. Earlier this week, the Senate's five Republicans announced they would all support the measure.

RI Senate leader: Exemption key to marriage debate

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:00:00 +0000

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The fate of gay marriage legislation in Rhode Island could hinge on the exemptions it affords religious groups that oppose it, the state Senate president said Friday, a day after the House overwhelmingly passed the bill.

Teresa Paiva Weed said she remains opposed to the bill and has heard that the sticking point for many senators is on how broad of a religious exemption is included in the only New England state that doesn't allow same-sex marriage.

The Newport Democrat said she doesn't want to fast-track the legislation and promised a "full and fair debate" on what she said is a personal and emotional issue for many lawmakers. She made the comments during a taping of WJAR-TV's "10 News Conference."

She said she doesn't know whether there's enough support in the Senate to pass the legislation, which would make Rhode Island the 10th state to allow gay marriage.

"The debate and the discussion in the Senate will be very real, and neither I nor anybody else ... really knows what the final outcome of that will be," she said.

Paiva Weed said several senators have told her they want a more expansive religious exemption to protect religious leaders, churches, religious charities and organizations that do not support same-sex marriage.

$1.4 trillion in pension fights foreshadowed in Rhode Island

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 14:15:00 +0000

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Retired social worker Jim Gillis was told his $36,000 Rhode Island state pension would increase by $1,100 next year to keep up with inflation. But lawmakers suspended annual increases, leaving Gillis wondering how he'll pay medical bills and whether he'd been betrayed by his former employer.

"When you're working, you're told you'll get certain things, and you retire believing that to be the case," Gillis said. He and other retirees are challenging the pension changes in a court battle that's likely to have national implications as other states follow Rhode Island's lead.

Cities and states around the country are shoring up battered retirement plans by reducing promised benefits to public workers and retirees. All told, states need $1.4 trillion to fulfill their pension obligations. It's a yawning chasm that threatens to wreck government budgets and prompt tax hikes or deep cuts to education and other programs.

The political and legal fights challenge the clout of public-sector unions and test the venerable idea that while state jobs pay less than private-sector employment, they come with the guarantee of early retirement and generous benefits.