NYT: Rhode Island Weighs Gay Marriage

[LoveTrains]

www.nytimes.com/2013/01/24/us/politics/rhode-island-weighs-gay-marriage-as-the-last-holdout-in-new-england.html?ref=us&_r=0

I am sincerely hopeful that we will make some progress today towards marriage equality. 

[Deleted]

Do you think it will pass? RI is soooo Catholic and demographically aging faster than the other NE states.

[LoveTrains]

The problem is the State Senate, the woman in charge is a conservative Catholic Democrat and its unclear if she will allow the bill to come before the full Senate. If she won't bring it up, obviously it can't pass.

It should have no problem passing in the State House and then the Governor is actively campaigning for marriage equality.

Massachusetts has now surpassed RI as the most Catholic state in the country, I believe.

[Velar Fricative]

I think it'll pass at some point - the article did say the head of the State Senate would let it go to a vote.

[LoveTrains]

Jan 24, 2013 9:33:07 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I think it'll pass at some point - the article did say the head of the State Senate would let it go to a vote.

I believe the article said it would come up in committee, not necessarily the full Senate. That is the crux of the issue. It needs to come up in the full Senate to pass. 

[Velar Fricative]

Ah ok, I misunderstood.

[Deleted]

Jan 24, 2013 7:52:17 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

The problem is the State Senate, the woman in charge is a conservative Catholic Democrat and its unclear if she will allow the bill to come before the full Senate. If she won't bring it up, obviously it can't pass.

It should have no problem passing in the State House and then the Governor is actively campaigning for marriage equality.

Massachusetts has now surpassed RI as the most Catholic state in the country, I believe.

Paiva-Weed has said she will she will allow the Senate Judiciary Committee to review and vote on the bill if it passes the House.

Edited: Sorry, i should have read all the responses before I posted!

[Velar Fricative]

Jan 24, 2013 10:34:47 GMT -5 @mrdobalina said:

It's going to be both sides against the middle in the next ten years.

Except Iowa. Iowa should just physically move over to one of the coasts.

[penguingrrl]

Come on RI!!! And then NJ please! Do opponents really not realize that a generation from now people are going to be horrified when they hear that this was even a fight?

[msmerymac]

In Iowa it was passed by the legislature though, right? I mean, it's not like is passed by popular vote. But my husband has family in Iowa and I've known other Iowans. They're all a lot cooler and more normal than you think. Especially eastern Iowa, which is right next to Illinois.

Anyway... stupid California. We can't pass gay marriage and we can't pass legalized pot. What is becoming of this state?! I need to get the hell out of here... to the home state of Rick Santorum.

[Velar Fricative]

It became legal in Iowa through an Iowa Supreme Court decision.

[meshaliuknits]

Jan 24, 2013 11:38:10 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

In Iowa it was passed by the legislature though, right? I mean, it's not like is passed by popular vote. But my husband has family in Iowa and I've known other Iowans. They're all a lot cooler and more normal than you think. Especially eastern Iowa, which is right next to Illinois.

Anyway... stupid California. We can't pass gay marriage and we can't pass legalized pot. What is becoming of this state?! I need to get the hell out of here... to the home state of Rick Santorum.

Probably not gonna help.

But we're definitely loosing our mojo. I blame our gooey red center. It's not delicious like the middle of a twinkie. God I want a twinkie.

[Deleted]

It will happen in NJ the second Christie is out of office.

Maybe even before.

[msmerymac]

Even LA County technically voted against Prop 8, though. Blargh.

[basilosaurus]

Western Iowa was a pit. It's where Chelsea from teen mom is from.

Des Moines is cool because they had my nearest Costco. And then I laughed at myself when I thought it was a livable city.

I don't think we'll have to wait 10 years for the center to catch up. I have hope that SCOTUS will hear a case before then that will make everyone recognize marriage equality.

[meshaliuknits]

Jan 24, 2013 14:58:06 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Even LA County technically voted against Prop 8, though. Blargh.

I'm blaming the Central Valley and no amount of "facts" will change my mind.

[lyssbobiss, Command, B613]

I remember when my state voted on it almost 10 years ago and I thought I would never see gay marriage passed in so many places in my life. It gives me a lot of hope to see the change between then and now, including the fact that we have a president who is so vocal in its support. I honestly never thought this would happen.

[LoveTrains]

Update: it looks like it passed the house today 51-19. Now on to the Senate. There are 38 Senators.

[Bumblebee]

I am so happy to see more states making progress towards equality.  

[ringstrue]

Yay!!

[Deleted]

RI is pretty gay friendly - we've elected openly gay mayors, Congressmen and our speaker of the House now is gay. I'm surprised we didn't pass gay marriage a couple of years ago. Certainly, we cannot stand alone as the only New England state not to have gay marriage. We're too small, and it gets too problematic with people crossing the borders from CT and MA to RI all the time.

I think maybe Bishop Tobin's treatment of Patrick Kennedy had people afraid to draw attention to themselves on an issue like this....

[LoveTrains]

Jan 24, 2013 20:26:59 GMT -5 sandsonik said:

RI is pretty gay friendly - we've elected openly gay mayors, Congressmen and our speaker of the House now is gay. I'm surprised we didn't pass gay marriage a couple of years ago. Certainly, we cannot stand alone as the only New England state not to have gay marriage. We're too small, and it gets too problematic with people crossing the borders from CT and MA to RI all the time.

I think maybe Bishop Tobin's treatment of Patrick Kennedy had people afraid to draw attention to themselves on an issue like this....

I think it has to do with the fact that they knew they didn't have the votes to pass gay marriage before which is why they did civil unions.

I'm not Catholic, but seriously, you must know our state is incredibly Catholic and surprisingly religious. Otherwise there wouldn't have been that stupid fuss over the prayer banner in Cranston last year. 

But then again I am lucky if I make it out of the East Side on any given day, so take my input with a grain of salt. 

[Deleted]

Jan 24, 2013 21:13:28 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Jan 24, 2013 20:26:59 GMT -5 sandsonik said:

RI is pretty gay friendly - we've elected openly gay mayors, Congressmen and our speaker of the House now is gay. I'm surprised we didn't pass gay marriage a couple of years ago. Certainly, we cannot stand alone as the only New England state not to have gay marriage. We're too small, and it gets too problematic with people crossing the borders from CT and MA to RI all the time.

I think maybe Bishop Tobin's treatment of Patrick Kennedy had people afraid to draw attention to themselves on an issue like this....

I think it has to do with the fact that they knew they didn't have the votes to pass gay marriage before which is why they did civil unions.

I'm not Catholic, but seriously, you must know our state is incredibly Catholic and surprisingly religious. Otherwise there wouldn't have been that stupid fuss over the prayer banner in Cranston last year. 

But then again I am lucky if I make it out of the East Side on any given day, so take my input with a grain of salt. 

Yeah, I know we're mostly Catholic -that's why I mentioned the theat of Bishop Tobin.

However, just by judging by my FB, filled with a lot of small town residents who are probably a bit more conservative than East Siders - no one is objecting to this.  Not the most religious Catholics who were ready to riot in Cranston, not the gun freaks who post constantly, none of the people who usually post conservative. I've seen a few thumbs up - and a lot of quiet which worries me a little bit!