(Providence, Rhode Island) A Rhode Island man set off Monday on a five-state bicycle ride to promote same-sex marriage. 

Harris, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW-RI) and a long-time supporter of Marriage Equality Rhode Island, said he expects to average about 75 miles per day.

“I visit state houses to make a critical statement,” Harris said before he set off.  “It’s a civil rights issue.  That’s where we have to change things.”

Along the way, he said, he will collect signatures in support of marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples.

His “Traveling Proclamation for Civil Marriage” reads “I, the undersigned, believe that same sex couples should have the right to marry in all states and should be afforded, without hindrance, the same rights and privileges that heterosexual married couples now enjoy.”

This is Harris’ third marriage equality ride.

Harris’ first two rides, totaling 1,620 miles, have toured around New England, going from Providence, to Connecticut,  Maine, Vermont, south through Boston and home.

“The reception I receive is very positive, with people falling in three different categories,” he said.

“For folks who are not convinced that same gender marriage is a civil right, they generally fall silent until some other part of the bicycle trip is discussed.  For many other folks, the conversation is one where they state they will think much harder about the issue.  The third category, of which there have been quite a few, is of full support. I am pleasantly surprised by the number of families who engaged positively in these conversations at campgrounds I stayed along the way.”

Of the states Harris will visit this year only Massachusetts has full marriage rights for same-sex couples. 

Couples from the other states have gone to the Bay State to marry, but the weddings are recognized only in New York under an executive order issued by Gov. Paterson. Legislation to allow New Yorkers to marry in their own state has passed the Assembly but was stonewalled in the Senate.

Legislation to legalize same-sex marriage has been filed in New Jersey but has yet to be voted on. A bill to legalize same-sex marriage was filed this year in the Rhode Island legislature but failed to win widespread support.