In a different decade or an alternate universe, the fact that Rhode Island passed and it's governor signed a Civil Unions bill for same-sex couples might have been exciting. After all, just eleven years ago Vermont passed the first civil unions legislation in the nation amidst widespread controversy and predictions of fire and brimstone.
But in the real world where New York State passed a marriage equality bill, and the Federal Government just proffered a court brief that drove a stake through the heart of DOMA, the loudest sound emanating from the Ocean State is 'Zzzzzzz'.
This is a state whose popular support for marriage equality is on par with that of New York State (1). This is a state with a newly elected Governor who supported marriage equality in his campaign. This is a state where the Speaker of the House is openly gay. This is a state with an overwhelming majority of Democrats in its legislature -- 65 Democrats to 10 Republicans in its House (!), and 29 Democrats to 8 Republicans (and 1 Independent) in its Senate.
How then did a marriage equality bill morph into a civil unions bill that neither side wanted?
Was it apathy? The Governor, Lincoln Chaffee, didn't appear to lift a finger in support of the marriage equality bill that eventually died in the House, something that has already drawn plenty of unfavorable comparisons to one Andrew Cuomo.
Was it cowardice? The Speaker of the House, Gordon Fox, refused to even take a vote on the bill, claiming he didn't have enough support, and that his membership was unwilling to be forced into a 'controversial' vote.
Was it anti-democracy in action? The President of the Senate, Teresa Paiva-Weed, was against marriage equality and gave indications that she would not let the bill come to a vote in the Senate. Where is Dean Skelos' twin when you need him (Skelos is the Republican Majority Leader of the NY Senate, who allowed their bill to come to a vote despite his opposition).
Was it a failure, as in Maryland, to secure the votes? I never saw any whip counts; there was never a list of potential swing legislators that I saw written up. There was never any attempt that I saw to target for advocacy legislators that were on the fence.
Or were proponents simply unable to effectively counteract the influence of the Catholic Church (the majority of Rhode Islanders are Catholic)?
Whatever the reasons, Rhode Island now joins the Separate-But-Not-Equal club.
Shrug.
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(1) Not a lot of polling in RI has been done, but the three latest polls -- spanning three years -- show an average of 56% in support of legalizing same-sex marriage in Rhode Island. That's the same as polling average in New York for the six polls taken in 2011.