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(Providence, Rhode Island) Gay
and lesbian civil rights advocates are stepping up their demands for a State
House vote on same-sex marriage.
Last month the House Judiciary
Committee held a six-hour hearing on the bill, hearing from gay and lesbian
couples and their supporters that the denial of marriage rights is adversely
affecting their lives. (story)
But leaders in both the house and
Senate say a bill that would allow same-sex couples to marry in Rhode Island is
unlikely to advance.
William J. Murphy the Speaker of
the House, Senate President Joseph A. Montalbano - both Democrats - and Governor
Carcieri, a Republican, oppose same-sex marriage.
This week as the House considered
a resolution honoring Rhode Island LGBT activist Julia Pell, the daughter of
former U.S. Sen. Claiborne Pell, gays hung a banner from the gallery pressing
the legislature to vote on the marriage bill.
The giant banner depicted
characters from The Wizard of Oz and read "If you only had the courage, if
you only had the heart, if you only had the brains, you'd pass marriage
equality."
Pell died last month of cancer. (story)
The resolution honored her for creating "a positive voice, a positive face,
and a positive life for gay, lesbian and transgendered people," and noted
she was instrumental in the passage of the state LGBT civil rights bill in 1995.
Gays called the resolution
disingenuous when lawmakers are stalling the marriage bill.
They also released a
new poll taken for Marriage Equality Rhode Island that shows more people in the
state support gay marriage than oppose it.
The survey, done for the group by
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, shows that 45 percent of likely Rhode Island
voters support same-sex marriage, compared with 39 percent who oppose it.
It was conducted April 6
through 9.
©365Gay.com 2006
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