g********d
发帖数: 4174 | 1 Posted on Advocate.com June 28, 2011 05:10:00 PM ET
Story Updated : June 28, 2011 07:00:00 PM
R.I. Gay Rights Group to Gov: Veto Civil Unions Bill
By Neal Broverman
Rhode Island House speaker Gordon Fox While many gays in Hawaii and Illinois
were jubilant when their states recently passed legislation establishing
civil unions, LGBT Rhode Islanders aren't seeing much to cheer about.
Rhode Island's Senate will likely pass a bill this week that allows same-sex
couples to form civil unions; the state House already approved civil unions
in May. The legislation comes after the state tried for marriage equality
and failed — years after its neighbors, Connecticut and Massachusetts,
legalized same-sex marriage. To add insult to injury, the civil unions bill
comes with heavy concessions to the state's Roman Catholic community —
according to The Boston Globe, gay rights activists believe the bill
includes overly broad protections for religious groups "that could, for
example, allow a Catholic hospital to bar a gay man from participating in
his partner's medical decisions."
Rhode Island's course of action is surprising to many, considering the state
is part of liberal New England and has a Democratic-majority legislature,
an independent governor supportive of marriage equality (Lincoln Chafee), a
gay speaker of the House (Gordon Fox, pictured), and a gay congressman and
former mayor of Providence (David Cicilline). Fox, particularly, was pushing
for marriage equality, but he changed course because he believed the bill
would never pass the Senate. The very carefully worded civil unions
legislation seems to be only angering activists — many of whom are likely
emboldened by nearby New York overcoming numerous obstacles to pass marriage
equality Friday.
"Rhode Island has always been a beacon of protecting the separation of
church and state," Marc Solomon, national campaign director for Freedom to
Marry, said in a statement provided to The Advocate. "Unfortunately, the
pending Rhode Island legislation flies in the face of that proud history. It
adds insult to injury by enshrining civil union, a separate-and-unequal
status, in law while granting license to religious organizations and their
employees to discriminate against same-sex couples. We know that Rhode
Island can do better."
Ray Sullivan, the campaign director for Marriage Equality, went a step
further and said his group, along with other equality organizations, is
urging Governor Chafee to veto the civil unions bill should it make it to
his desk.
"We’ve been fighting to pass marriage equality," Sullivan said. "Given how
bad the language [of the provisions in the civil unions bill] is and the
potential for harm from this bill, we have no other choice but to oppose it."
Gay people working at a religiously affiliated college or university could
be barred from taking family medical leave under the civil union provisions,
Sullivan said. Also, people in civil unions who enroll their child in a
Catholic school could be excluded from choices about their child's education
, he added. | g********d
发帖数: 4174 | 2 RI有病，60%同性婚姻支持率，议会87%和76%是民主党，还搞不定。 | k*****e
发帖数: 22013 | 3 真是奇怪啊。问题出在哪里呢？
【在 g********d 的大作中提到】
: RI有病，60%同性婚姻支持率，议会87%和76%是民主党，还搞不定。
| g********d
发帖数: 4174 | 4 而且州长还坚定支持同性婚姻。我猜想是因为州长不象NY州长有个大舅子是GAY，没有
那么MOTIVATED？
【在 k*****e 的大作中提到】
: 真是奇怪啊。问题出在哪里呢？
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