(CNN) — Rhode Island was set to become the tenth state in the nation, and the last in New
England, to legalize same-sex marriage Thursday as final legislation cleared procedural hurdles in the state legislature.
Gov. Lincoln Chafee, an independent, has pledged to sign the bill immediately following its final passage. Last week both the Rhode Island House and Senate approved by large margins measures allowing same-sex couples to wed, but more votes were required after the legislation was tweaked. The law would go into effect August 1.
Iowa, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Washington and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage. Their combined populations, based on U.S. Census estimates for 2012, represent 15.8% of the U.S. population.
The addition of Rhode Island’s 1,050,292 residents would nudge that up to 16.1%.
“Today’s vote shows that marriage doesn’t belong to a particular party or ideology, and increasingly, the public and politicians alike realize that only marriage provides loving couples and families with the protection they need and deserve,” said Chad Griffin, the president of the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign.
“That the entire Rhode Island Senate GOP caucus joined with a vast majority of Democratic lawmakers to live up to the state’s values in voting for marriage will inspire more momentum in more states,” added Marc Solomon, the national campaign director for pro-same-sex marriage group Freedom to Marry. “It is time now for the Supreme Court to uphold these American values for all loving and committed couples.”
Christopher Plante, the Rhode Island regional director for the National Organization for Marriage, opposed the pending law, saying it omitted important religious protections that have been included in other states’ laws.
“Redefining marriage into a genderless institution to satisfy the demands of a small but politically powerful group is bad enough, but besides advocating a flawed policy HB 5015 and SB 38 contain a shocking lack of religious liberty protections,” Plante wrote, saying the bill, at a minimum, should have included legal protections for individuals, businesses and groups who refuse to serve or participate in same-sex marriages.
In March, a divided United States Supreme Court heard arguments over the legality of two marriage laws – the federal Defense of Marriage act, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman, and California’s Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage.
The nine justices hinted at disparate views on the hot-button issue, though it was far from clear how they will rule. A decision is expected in June.
Lasciviousness and licentiousness conspired to force same-sex marriage legislation on civil society. Debauchery hails its promulgation.
Same-sex marriage couples selfishly demand “Marriage Equality”, yet, in return, they offer LESS-THAN-EQUAL protection of the child’s happiness than can be afforded through the presence of both biological parents. In the name of “Marriage Equality”, same-sex marriage leaves the child fully aware that his family is, in all truth, not at all “equal”, natural, nor complete. The use of the term “marriage Equality” by same-sex marriage proponents selfishly ignores the child’s perspective of “equality”.
Same-sex marriage couples profess that it is love which gives the right to join the institution of marriage, yet, in doing so, they selfishly violate the principle LOVING objective of this noble institution; to protect a child’s Natural Right to be raised by both biological parents.
Those who take part in same-sex marriage are well acquainted with the Laws of Nature which they ought to follow, but they see themselves as their own judges leaving their whims and passions left unchecked, and they understand no obligation to contain themselves within the limits of that regard and respect which they owe to civil society, the tranquility of families, and the happiness of children. They deem themselves the arbiter of their own actions, pridefully announcing the right to being the judge themselves, both of Natural and Civil Laws, and of the manner in which they ought to apply them. This independence and excessive liberty must only be productive of disorder and confusion anytime there happens to be a clashing of their interests and passions with civil society.
Many homosexuals and their supporters today are the vicious oppressors of liberty. They are the malevolent bigots driven by their own prideful prejudices into seeking vengeance; whether it be by slandering anyone with whom they disagree by labeling them a “homophobe”, demanding the criminalization of anyone who refuses them service, mandatory indoctrination of our youth by the State, or the destruction of religious charities and institutions; their agenda violates the very maxims of Natural Law leaving them only the tyranny of legislative oppression as their ONLY justification.