The gay marriage battle in Rhode Island is heating up! Hundreds of folks turned out for the Senate hearing, letting the haters know what's up.
Supporters and opponents spilled out into the State House hallways and watched testimony from televisions elsewhere in the building. A group of 100 or so people, including members of the Hispanic Pastors Association of Rhode Island, held a boisterous rally in the State House rotunda against proposals to allow same-sex marriage.
Testimony in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, which was expected to go late into the night, centered on a bill introduced by Sen. Rhoda E. Perry, D-Providence, that would recognize civil marriage between people of identical gender, while leaving religious institutions the right to refuse to participate. (The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing last month on the House version of Perry’s bill.)
The committee agenda also included bills that would place the question of gay marriage before voters in a referendum, allow domestic unions for same sex couples, and create “reciprocal beneficiary agreements” that would allow two unmarried people ineligible for marriage to obtain certain rights and responsibilities.
Tony, I'm sure you have a lot to say about this. I would to hear about what's going down in this battle.
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