Progressive News, Opinion, and Analysis
Matthew Lannon is 12-year-old. He’s a boy scout, he goes to church, he plays video games and sometimes fights with his sister. In many ways, he’s just like all the other kids his age … except that Rhode Island won’t let his parents get married.
Listen to him speak about why marriage equality matters to him with a wisdom and compassion beyond the ability of many more than twice his age.
The arc of history is bending towards marriage equality. In a few years, people will look back at opposition to same-sex marriage the same way we look at the racist congressmen who voted against the 13th Amendment in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln.
For real, concrete examples of political regret, we don’t have to look that far back and we don’t have to visit Alabama. We can look at our own state’s recent past, and listen to the words of former state Rep. Charles T. Knowles.
“About twenty years ago I was sitting right where the Chairwoman is, and that year this committee defeated the gay rights bill,” he testified. “I was chairman of the committee, I voted against it and for a period of about three months I was probably one of the most unpopular people in the state of Rhode Island…”
I viewed my opposition basically on moral grounds, as a Christian, but I’ve also said to myself that the First Amendment separates church and state. I believe it goes both ways. The government shouldn’t be putting its nose into my religious beliefs or lack thereof, and I think people’s religion should stay out of this building.
When I was a lawmaker, I should have looked at the law and the Constitution before I made up my mind based on what was in my heart.
At the time Knowles helped defeat the gay rights bill, he said some pretty ignorant things in defense of his views.
I can not extend that support to employment because I feel such an across-the-board extension will establish gays as a constitutionally protected class on a par with race, gender, national origin and other involuntary types of status.
Until we are presented with positive proof that homosexuality and bisexuality are totally involuntary in nature, I choose not to extend the purview of the state’s protection to employment, for fear of creating a Pandora’s box of spurious litigation.
Decades later Knowles’ views have evolved. It is the rare and courageous man who can admit when he is wrong. Charles Knowles is to be commended for delivering this very difficult and emotional public mea culpa.
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) was formed in 2007 for the purpose of passing California’s Prop 8 prohibiting same-sex marriage. NOM RI was formed sometime between 2008 and early 2010 and announced publicly at the New England Family, Life and Marriage Summit held on February 27, 2010 at the Ocean State Baptist Church in Smithfield.
Placed in charge of NOM RI was Christopher Plante, formerly of Heritage of Rhode Island, a group that foisted a discredited and dangerous “abstinence-until-marriage” sex education program on Rhode Island schools until mysteriously closing up shop in late 2007.
In my April 2010 interview with Plante, he told me that NOM RI is unique in the NOM structure. Normally when NOM determines that a state is “under attack” by marriage equality advocates, they work with grassroots organizations that are already there, usually pro-life, “pro-family” organizations. When NOM looked at Rhode Island, they realized there was no grassroots organization to work through, so they determined to open an office here. Rhode Island is, according to Plante, where the action is.
At the New England Family, Life and Marriage Summit, extreme anti-gay hate group MassResistance! was notably absent. I was assured that the group, headed by Brian Camenker, wasn’t invited because he represented an extreme, anti-LGBT position that did not mesh with the family focused theme of the meeting.
The FRC Action Political Action Committee, the National Organization for Marriage, the Family Institute of Connecticut, Cornerstone Action of New Hampshire, and the Alliance Defense Fund were trying to present a position that defended “the traditional definition of marriage” without descending into the kind of open homophobia and hatred that MassResistance! was known for. Still, Peter Sprigg of the FRC could not help but complement the work MassResistance! had done fighting against bullying statutes that might defend LGBTQ people from abuse in schools, saying, “Give credit to MassResistance!. I don’t always agree with everything they say, but on (Gay Straight Alliance issues) they did good work.”
Of course Peter Sprigg’s FRC would join MassResistance! later that year on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of hate groups, anticipating in a way NOM RI’s now open relationship with Brian Camenker and MassResistance!
The media coverage of the New England Family, Life and Marriage Summit ignored the history of hateful comments made by representatives of the various groups in attendance. Though marriage equality and LGBTQ rights protesters held a peaceful protest outside the venue, the Providence Journal ran the headline “Family-advocate summit draws protesters” which made it seem like people were protesting families, not homophobia and lies. In her ProJo piece Maria Armental wrote, “One group stood outside Ocean State Baptist Church chanting pro-gay slogans Saturday. The other gathered inside the church talking policy and politics on the traditional family: a man and a woman.”
The event was held in a center attached to the church. The protest was peaceful and not disruptive in any way, I know, because until the attendees were told of the protest outside, no one inside the meeting knew it was happening. Armental set up a false dichotomy in her writing that made the protesters outside seem like extremists and the people inside the church’s function room, like Peter Sprigg, who once said that homosexual behavior should be criminalized, seem like reasonable, rational people.
Plante claims in the interview with me that NOM RI is a grassroots organization, and that all its operating costs are covered by donations made by Rhode Islanders. This is of course impossible to verify, as NOM keeps the identities of its donors secret, but Plante also says that NOM gets its donations from individuals, not groups. This is not accurate.
The Washington Independent revealed that NOM received $1.4 million from the Knights of Columbus in 2009. The Knights gave more money to NOM than they spent on charitable giving, such as food banks, that year. Think about this next time someone tells you that the KoC is a charity predisposed to doing good works in the community.
Of course, the Knights aren’t the only Catholic institution supporting NOM. The Washington Independent reports:
“You’ve got this really interesting funnel of tax-free money coming from the Dioceses and the Council of Bishops and the Knights of Columbus directly to these campaigns,” notes Phil Attey, executive director of the newly launched organization, Catholics for Equality. “Why are groups like NOM hiding where they’re getting their money? If it turns out to be a front group for the conservative side of the church, Catholics have the right to know because the majority of American Catholics, and we can show you heaps of polls, don’t support that [kind of spending].”
This close connection to the Catholic Church might be the real reason NOM has set up shop in Rhode Island, until recently the most Catholic state in the United States. Bishop Tobin of the Providence Diocese makes no secret of his opposition to marriage equality. The Catholic Church seems happy to team up with NOM, MassResistance!, the FRC and almost any other Christian groups opposed to marriage equality.
FAPSMEG, (Faith Alliance to Preserve the Sanctity of Marriage as Established by God) is an alliance of the Knights of Columbus, NOM, MassResitance! and various evangelical and Hispanic churches. The tight working relationship between the Knights and NOM is to be expected given the money the KoC and other Catholic organizations and individuals have been pumping into NOM.
In yesterday’s Providence Journal, “State’s taxpayer coalition gives itself a makeover” questions were asked about Providence diocese lobbyist Bernard Healey’s attendance of a fundraiser for Senate President Paiva-Weed. After confirming that Healey attended the fundraiser with a complimentary ticket, diocesan spokesperson Michael Guilfoyle “stressed that as nonprofits, both the diocese and the Catholic Conference do not make political donations.”
In fact, however, the Providence Diocese does indeed make political donations, including one for $2000 to the Minnesota Catholic Conference Marriage Defense Fund (MCCMDF), which worked along side NOM and the Knights of Columbus to effectively “fund nearly 25 percent of the efforts to write discrimination against LGBT people into the state [of Minnesota’s] constitution.” Of course, this money does not specifically fund any particular candidate, but it is semantic hairsplitting to not classify such donations as political in nature.
The Human Rights Campaign has devoted an entire section of their website to NOM Exposed, tracking the shadowy money transfers and secretive support that NOM relies on. Their analysis?
NOM is not a grassroots organization. It is run by a few anti-gay shadow donors. Its 2010 Form 990 shows the top two contributed 69% of NOM’s funding – and the top five donors 88%. In fact, the reason why NOM does not have a federal PAC – a very unusual instrument to be lacking for a Beltway advocacy organization of its size – is that it doesn’t meet the basic indicia of a grassroots organization: members.
Other than the suspect statements from Christopher Plante mentioned above, there is no reason to assume that NOM RI functions any differently than its parent organization.
On March 26th of last year NOM Exposed went public with some internal NOM documents detailing strategies in combating marriage equality. Looking for allies in their fight against marriage equality, NOM had decided on a racialist strategy: pitting blacks and Hispanics against the LGBTQ community. NOM writes:
Find, equip, energize and connect African American spokespeople for marriage, develop a media campaign around their objections to gay marriage as a civil right; provoke the gay marriage base into responding by denouncing these spokesmen and women as bigots,
and
Will the process of assimilation to the dominant Anglo culture lead Hispanics to abandon traditional family values? We must interrupt this process of assimilation by making support for marriage a key badge of Latino identity – a symbol of resistance to inappropriate assimilation.
Whether it is by intentional use of this strategy or not, Christopher Plante has achieved at least some of this end. In covering the protest FAPSMEG organized at the State house on January 15th, the MassResistance! website reports that “the Rhode Island Hispanic Ministers Association, along with several African-American pastors and a white pastor, organized a statewide multi-denominational coalition of over 100 religious organizations to oppose the bill.” The picture above shows Christopher Plante and Brian Camenker adressing the nascent FAPSMEG alliance, and is from the MassResistance! website.
Other quotes from the MassResistance! piece highlight the racialist strategy:
At the rally several Hispanic and African-American pastors spoke, as well as pro-marriage State Senator Harold Metts.
and
“There was excellent testimony on… how homosexuality has nothing to do with civil rights…”
and
Over the week leading up to the rally and public hearing, we worked with some of the leaders of the Rhode Island Hispanic Ministers Alliance. We were very impressed. They are dedicated to religious principles, they are well organized, and they are focused. They know how to pool their ideas and get things done in a relatively short time. In addition, they are not in the least afraid of offending the liberal establishment, or white liberals in general.”
and
“Too many white congregations mean well but unfortunately don’t execute. They’re afraid to talk about Biblical truth, lest it offend someone. They would often rather “pray about it” than get involved. Individuals often can’t make the time in their busy lives to go out and make a difference. They are well-meaning but don’t have zeal. And as a result they’re usually woefully disorganized and ineffective when it comes to meaningful social action.”
Christopher Plante would have us believe that Rhode Island’s Hispanic churches are all arraigned against marriage equality, and helped stage a large State House protest on the night of the House Judiciary Committee meeting to prove it. Unfortunately, Jeremy Hooper on GoodAsYou pointed out back in April 2011, “…this is *NOT* Rhode Island’s Hispanic population, writ large (around 130,655 in the latest census). It’s not even the Hispanic church as a whole.” It’s the “Hispanic Ministerial Association of Rhode Island… a non-profit corporation that most certainly hopes to increase its influence in conservative politics.” Recent polls show that 59% of Latino/Hispanic voters support marriage equality.
Racialist, bigoted and secretive politics define NOM RI. It should be clear by now that NOM RI, under the leadership of Christopher Plante, is an organization that will seemingly do and say anything to advance its anti-equality agenda. Those who choose to partner with this group do so at the peril of losing whatever putative moral authority they claim.
As the struggle for marriage equality in Rhode Island continues, and as the state Coalition Against Racial Profiling prepares for the reintroduction next week of its anti-racial profiling bill, the story of Mildred and Richard Loving is more timely than ever.
You can come watch the movie with the Rhode Island chapter of the ACLU Monday at 6:00 PM, in the RIC Student Union Ballroom. You can also watch the trailer here:
The Lovings were an interracial couple arrested for miscegenation in 1958 and exiled from Virginia. With the help of the ACLU, they took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1967 – finally — struck down these discriminatory laws across the nation.
Last September, the RI ACLU hosted a packed screening of “The Loving Story,” an award-winning HBO documentary about the case, at the Cable Car. On Monday, to kick off African-American history month, the ACLU and the Unity Center at Rhode Island College are planning to hold another free screening of this film at RIC to which the public is invited.
Tracing the history of the case, the film provides a compelling parallel to the contemporary issue of marriage equality, while also documenting the deep-seated nature of racial discrimination that still permeates our society.
We encourage you to attend, as it can only fuel the sense of urgency behind having 2013 finally be the year that the Rhode Island legislature both approves marriage equality for same-sex couples and enacts measures designed to reduce the unconscionable level of racial profiling that still exists on the streets and highways of Rhode Island.
This afternoon, at least one residence in Portsmouth received a robo poll that identified itself as being from Chris Plante and the National Organization for Marriage. With the recent vote in the RI House, the message began, the focus has “shifted to the Senate, where it’s on a knife’s edge.”
Then came the poll: “Do you believe marriage should be between a man and a woman?” The system was unable to process the answer that this reporter provided, and the call terminated, with the usual disclaimer that this was not paid for by any candidate, etc.
This was the second time they called. Back on January 11, they asked the same “man and a woman” question, and that time, I made it through the screen and they asked for gender, and posed an oddly specific question: “Are you over 50?” That time, the phone number identified itself as 401 228 7602 but Caller ID showed it coming from 202 810 1454.
Everyone in *this* house supports full marriage equality, so they must be working off lists from when my parents owned the house.
A new poll released today shows that Rhode Islanders overwhelmingly support marriage equality with almost 60 percent of the state in favor of same sex marriage.
“…voters in the state strongly support legalizing gay marriage- 57% support it to 36% who are opposed,” according to a summary of the poll results. “When we polled the state on this issue in February 2011 there was 50/41 support for it, and the 12 point increase in the margin in favor of same sex marriage reflects the national movement on this issue over the last few years.”
Said Ray Sullivan, campaign director for Rhode Islanders United for Marriage, of the positive new poll numbers:
“The poll released today by Public Policy Polling finding 57 percent of Rhode Islanders want to extend the unique protection and recognition of marriage to all Ocean State families mirrors the strong support our grassroots campaign has been hearing for months now. Support for marriage equality is strong and growing every day, as we tell the stories of our friends and neighbors who are unfairly unable to access the rights and benefits marriage bestows. Our broad coalition of organizations supporting equality looks forward to continuing to tell those stories and fight for all Rhode Island families.”
However … the other news of the day on marriage equality is that the conservative scare tactic is true: Rhode Island’s marriage laws are affecting some religion’s ability to practice how they want to. It’s just true in the opposite way they want you to believe it’s true. Rev. Don Anderson, executive director of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches explains.
“While there is broad diversity within communities of faith on this issue, many traditions choose to welcome same-sex relationships to the covenant of marriage,” he said in a statement released today. “Under current law, those open and affirming traditions are unable to do so in Rhode Island. While No church or clergy would be required by this law to contradict the teachings of their particular faith, the State Council of Churches believes those congregations who wish to perform same-sex marriages should be able to do so. We believe this is an issue of tolerance and religious liberty.”
The state Council of Churches implored the General Assembly to get on board with the rest of the state and support same sex marriage. The House passed the bill last week (watch the video here) and Gov Chafee is eager to sign it into law. Public opinion polls show Rhode Islanders overwhelmingly support marriage equality. And the Providence Journal reported yesterday that even the socially conservative state Senate would be a close vote. Meaning, the fate of marriage equality in Rhode Island rests squarely on the shoulders of Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed.
Supporters are hoping she will be swayed by the more than 300 churches represented by the state Council who feel that is “an issue social justice, civil rights and conscience,” according to the press release.
“Their endorsement is an important recognition that many Rhode Island faith traditions welcome and affirm same-sex marriages,” said Sullivan.
Cheers to both the Providence Journal and Fall River Herald News editorial boards, both of whom reaffirmed their support for marriage equality in Rhode Island and called for swift passage of this long-overdue equal rights legislation before it becomes part of the political horse-trading on Smith Hill in the springtime.
This is an important point. Soon enough Rhode Island will learn whether Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed’s opposition to same sex marriage runs stronger than her desire for continued political power. I don’t imagine it does. Not when you factor in that she alone will bear the biggest political crosses, if you will, if Rhode Island rejects marriage equality.
While she is certainly seeking something in return for her support – it could be something giant like control of the powerful Joint Committee on Legislative Services or something smaller like support for binding arbitration – she also risks going down in the books as the Rhode Island’s 21st century version of George Wallace, the Alabama governor, known as “the most influential loser” who fought against civil rights in the early 60’s. Such a legacy would certainly affect her ability to become a judge in the future.
Openly? gay
There’s another point about these two editorials that’s worth noting – this one a difference in them.
The ProJo refers to House Speaker Gordon Fox as being “openly gay” while the Herald News more simply points out that Fox is gay. I think it’s prejudicial to refer to someone as being “openly” gay. There’s a great Wikipedia page on this for those who want to explore this more. For our purposes, I’ll keep it local:
Gordon Fox is no more (or less) openly gay than Ed Achorn is openly heterosexual. They are both – to my limited knowledge – in loving, long-time, committed relationships with two primary differences: one is gender and the other involves equal protection under the law.
When the media refers to gay people as being “openly” gay it implies there is still some cause to be closed about such sexual identity. There isn’t. Not here in mainstream Rhode Island there isn’t.
There are surely some hate groups, churches and other such outliers who still think it’s noteworthy that someone doesn’t hide their affection for people of the same gender. But by and large this ceased being a big deal to most people a long time ago.
We’re just waiting for the law to catch up with rest of society…
As an academic research psychologist I have closely followed the empirical research on the nature of same-sex couples, their families, and what the institution of marriage brings to any relationship.
One body of research finds that the psychological and social dynamics of gay and straight intimate relationships closely resemble each other. Like heterosexual couples, same-sex couples report a desire to form deep emotional attachments and commitments of long duration.
Both groups face similar challenges of intimacy, love, equity, and stability and go through similar processes to address them. Follow-up studies by independent judges could not identify whether the information came from homosexual women or men or from heterosexual women or men. Many other published studies provide no evidence that would justify discrimination against same-sex couples wishing to marry.
In fact, the 150,00-member American Psychological Association (APA) has passed a resolution in support of full civil marriage equality for same sex-couples and calls on states and the federal government to enact such laws. The resolution concludes that it is “unfair and discriminatory to deny same-sex couples legal access to civil marriage with all its attendant benefits, rights and privileges,” and that, “there is no scientific evidence that parenting effectiveness is related to sexual orientation: lesbian and gay parents are as likely as heterosexual parents to provide supportive and healthy environments for their children.”
Part of APA’s strong support for marriage equality rests on extensive research showing the importance of the institution of marriage as a stabilizing force in people’s lives in terms of psychological well-being, physical health, economic, social and legal benefits. Allowing same-sex couples to marry will provide public validation of the union as well as protection for children.
Maryland’s Governor Martin O’Malley said his state’s new 2012 same-sex marriage law will “honor the human dignity of families, whether the parents are gay or straight.” He further noted, “It is not right and it is not just that the children of gay couples should have lesser protections than children of other families in our state.”
The APA resolution and the research studies behind it have been cited extensively in court cases in favor of gay marriage. For example, a district court judge, in a federal challenge to California’s Proposition 8 law that defined marriage as a union of one man and one woman, found that “children raised by gay or lesbian parents are as likely as children raised by heterosexual parents to be healthy, successful and well-adjusted” and that the research “supporting this conclusion is accepted beyond serious debate in the field of developmental psychology.”
Other professional organizations that formally support legal recognition of same-sex marriage include: the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the American Psychiatric Association.
The Rhode Island House of Representatives easily approved same sex marriage legislation. About three-quarters of the votes in the chamber supported marriage equality. With Governor Chafee a strong supporter of equal rights, Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed is the last politician keeping Rhode Island as the only New England state without same sex marriage rights.
Watch this video to see what it was like in the House for this historic vote.
You may also want to watch this video that shows the religious protests and secular testimony last week when the House Judiciary Committee took testimony on the bill.
The Rhode Island House of Representatives is ready to make history today by voting on – and probably passing – a bill that would lift the local segregation against same sex marriage. Advocates are asking people to arrive at the State House by 2pm for a rally “Be sure to wear red,” suggests a photo circulating around Facebook made by Rhode Islanders United for Marriage.
“The world is watching #RI,” Rev. Gene Dyszlewski tweeted this morning about a story in today’s New York Times story about Ocean State’s struggle to become the last state in New England to legalize gay marriage.
According to the Times’ story:
If the measure passes here, New England would become the first solid block of states in the country to allow gay marriage, underscoring the region’s reputation as the nation’s most liberal, and perhaps its least religious. A Gallup surveyfound that all six New England states rank among the bottom 10 states for weekly church attendance.
And yet Rhode Island has seemed out of step with the rest of New England in not embracing gay marriage sooner. It was only on Tuesday that the House Judiciary Committee approved a same-sex marriage bill, albeit unanimously. It had come up in committee once before, in 2001, but only one person supported it.
The voting here comes almost a decade after same-sex marriage became legal in neighboring Massachusetts.
Here’s a short video of the historic vote in the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to advance legislation that would legalize same sex marriage. The House will vote on the bill Thursday. It then might lie fallow as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Michael McCaffrey, an opponent of marriage equality, said his committee is not likely to take up the matter until Spring.
The House Judiciary Committee moved Rhode Island closer than it has ever been to recognizing the rights of same sex couples tonight and it will likely be a fun debate on the House floor before it passes there too on Thursday.
The state Senate, of course, is a different story as it’s still unclear whether Teresa Paiva Weed will eventually side with Catholicism or equality. While she may seem adamant about being on the wrong side of history now, Democrats have been known to move pretty fast on this issue.
NBC News notes President Obama’s quick shift from being not-too-far from where the Senate President is to someone who now equates marriage equality with civil liberties.
*** Obama’s striking comments (and shift) on gay rights: Maybe the most striking (and memorable) lines of Obama’s inaugural speech were his remarks on gay rights. “‘All of us are created equal’ is the star that guides us still — just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall,” he said. He later added, “Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law.” It’s important to remember that Obama was someone who opposed gay marriage in presidential run in ’08, and who later said he was evolving on the subject. Obama’s shift is a reflection of how quickly the politics of gay marriage have changed in this country. (The train was leaving the station, and Obama jumped on board.) And so is the fact that there has been little to no backlash to those remarks — at least so far.
Today’s ProJo ran a piece on the expected passage, later today, of H5015, the Marriage Equality bill. The piece ran some quotes from Representative Charlene Lima that surprised me.
“We were sensitive to an atheist in Cranston to take down a prayer banner” she said, referring to a legal challenge that led to the removal of a prayer banner at Cranston High School West. “I don’t see why we can’t be sensitive to the Catholic Church.”
Lima’s public statements on the prayer banner, made at a school committee meeting, demonstrate anything but sensitivity.
She implored the school committee to appeal the ruling, a move that would have put the city and its struggling schools on the hook for anywhere between $250,000 and $1 million. She felt that the judge’s ruling was not justified given the facts of the case. There is no reason to believe that she has changed her opinion.
Her quote in the ProJo shows that her priorities, then, during the prayer banner kerfuffle, and now, during the debate on marriage equality, are squarely in line not with the citizens of the state of Rhode Island, but with the narrow agenda of the Roman Catholic Church.
During the hearings conducted at the house last Tuesday evening, Lima asked Father Bernard Healey about the living arrangements of married couples at Providence College. She was worried that PC would be forced, under the law, to house married gay couples, against the conscience of practicing Catholics. Father Healey had no answer for her regarding this issue. In fact, that evening, Rep. Lima was the only person to bring the issue up. Three philosophy professors from PC testified against the bill, but never brought up that particular issue.
I am a social psychologist and Emeritus Professor at the University of Rhode Island. For 17 years part of my teaching and research involved the study of gay and lesbian issues. Much of this work centered on marriage equality for same-sex couples, which I continue to study and advocate.
I was impressed by Governor Chafee’s pledge to seek legislation for same-sex marriage as a contemporary reflection of Roger Williams’ view of our state as a vibrant, diverse, welcoming community. He correctly noted that marriage equality would not only “honor our forefathers who risked their lives and fortune in pursuit of human equality” but would also make a positive contribution to our economic climate.
In a series of posts this week, I will offer a succinct sample of recent economic and psychological research that strongly buttresses the case for same-sex civil marriage that you so movingly supported at your swearing-in.
Tthe psychological and economic research and public opinion polling provide impressive support and encouragement for same-sex marriage, the larger legal foundation for recognizing gay couples is the crucial base for full equality. Simply put, civil marriage asserts that loving gay relationships are worthy of the privileges and responsibilities that come with civil marriage. Gay couples deserve equal protection of state laws and public validation of their life together that marriage brings.
New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch said of his state’s law, “We are standing up for the liberties of same-sex couples by making clear that they receive the same rights, responsibilities–and respect–under New Hampshire law.” Maine’s previous Governor John Balducci said their law reaffirms the separation of church and state and “guarantees that Maine citizens will be treated equally under Maine’s civil marriage laws and that is the responsibility of government.”
It is long past time for all branches of Rhode Island state government to show the same courage and civic responsibility of these two New England governors with respect to same-sex marriage and finally approve a same-sex marriage bill of our own. Such a move will not only link our state to other social and economically progressive forces across the country, but will also identify us as a place where people can live out their lives with respect, support and dignity.
We could make Roger Williams proud!
Almost 50 years after Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his nation-changing “I have a dream” speech, Rhode Island still has yet to fully implement that dream. Indeed, here in the Ocean State, we are still practicing segregation. Marriage segregation.
“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir,” said Dr. King said during his famous speech.”It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned.”
Insofar as the LGBTQ community is concerned, Rhode Island is defaulting on that promissory note.
And in terms of putting a civil rights issue such as same sex marriage on the ballot, King knew all too well that the majority don’t often support the rights of the minority. In his letter from Birmingham jail, he wrote, “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
His widow, Coretta Scott King, has become an outspoken advocate for same sex marriage rights. In 2003, she said: “I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people. … But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream, to make room at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people.”
But the most relevant King passage on the struggle for marriage equality might be the end of his “Dream” speech:
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
FAPSMEG (the Faith Alliance to Preserve the Sanctity of Marriage as Established by God) is a coalition of religious and political groups, brought together by the executive director of NOM-RI, Christopher Plante, to fight against marriage equality rights. The coalition marks the first time the local Catholic church, and perhaps the first diocese anywhere, has joined forces with an organization the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified as a hate group.
MassResistance has erroneously claimed that pro-equality groups supporting anti-bullying programs in schools “actually want to lure children into homosexuality and, very possibly, sadomasochism,” according to the SPLC. Its founder and executive director Brian Camenker has erroneously claimed that in Massachusetts “gays were trying to get legislation passed to allow sex with animals,” according to the SPLC.
In an interview yesterday, Mark Potok, a senior fellow with the Southern Poverty Law Center told me:
In our experience, it is highly unusual for the Catholic Church to work with groups like MassResistance, which has repeatedly, and utterly falsely, linked homosexuality to pedophilia, among other things. This is a group that lumps homosexuality in with criminal behaviors like bestiality, claims gay people are dangerous to children, and says, again falsely, that no gay people were murdered in the Holocaust.
I should add, however, that we’ve not seen any real history of the Catholic Church working with hate groups. It may be that in this case they’ve simply failed to look into the background of the group they’re allying themselves with. At least I hope so.
I hope so as well.
I call upon Bishop Thomas Tobin and the Providence Diocese to repudiate the ugly comments and hateful views of MassResistance and Brian Camenker. I would hope that this alliance was made in haste and in error, and that the Catholic Church would not want to make alliances with groups that put to a lie the Bishop’s assertion that individuals with same-sex attraction are to be treated with respect.
The Roman Catholic position on same-sex marriage is well known. They believe it is sinful and are against it. But as Bishop Thomas Tobin states, in an editorial reprinted on the FAPSMEG website:
It’s important to emphasize once again, however, that while rejecting homosexual activity, the Catholic Church has consistently promoted respect and pastoral care for individuals with same-sex attraction. They are children of God and our brothers and sisters.
This is the concept of hating the sin but not the sinner, and I get that. MassResistance, under the leadership of Brian Camenker, does not share this sentiment.
Politics often mimics art.
Soon after Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and a bunch of other superheroes got together to form the Super Friends, Lex Luthor, the Joker and Cheetah joined with other super villains to form the Legion of Doom. Where the Super Friends stand for truth and justice, the Legion stands for lies and inequity.
A similar scene played out at the State House last night as the House Judiciary Committee took testimony on marriage equality last night.
In the wake of the formation of Rhode Islanders United for Marriage, a coalition in support of marriage rights, Christopher Plante executive director of the anti-marriage equality group NOM-RI announced the formation of a local Legion of Doom: the Faith Alliance to Preserve the Sanctity of Marriage as Established by God, or FAPSMEG.
Watch this video by Sam Valorose, that captures the good, the bad and the ugly that was on display at the State House last night:
To form his dream team of intolerance, Plante dragged Brian Camenker of MassResistance, a genuine Southern Poverty Law Center hate group to Rhode Island, to poison our state with his special kind of venomous bile.
That’s right, bigot, homophobe and Holocaust denier Brian Camenker, who once lied, “One bill in Massachusetts takes away all the penalties for bestiality. This is where this [homosexual] agenda is going” and another time claimed that “no homosexuals died in the Holocaust and that the pink triangle the Nazis forced imprisoned gays to wear actually signified Catholic priests” has been imported from Massachusetts.
That this coalition of NOM and MassResistance also has the support of the Knights of Columbus and Bishop Thomas Tobin of the Providence Diocese is simply disgraceful. In addition to running Bishop Tobin’s latest anti-equality screed on its new website, at least one representative of the Providence Diocese spoke at the press conference/rally held in the main rotunda of the State House, a rally so large and boisterous it could be heard on the 3rd floor.
My friend Dave described the scene downstairs. There was…
…speaking in tongues, laying on of hands to protect the children from gays, the ecstatic testimonies, raised arms, singing of hymns, etc. It was like a classic religious revival.
Other speakers included RI Senator Harold Metts, Rev. Luis Rodriguez, Iglesia de la Comunidad; Rev. Luis Suarez, President of the Hispanic Coalition of Pastors and Ministers and Pastor, Iglesia Nueva Generacion Cristiana; Rev. Santos Escobar, Inglesia Vida Abundante UMC; Ron L’Heureux, Founder of Project Exodus 18; and Darrell Lee, SM, Founder, Building Cities on God Ministries.
One wonders how many of these religious leaders are aware of Camenker’s views and more worrisome, how many of those in attendance hold the same views.
After I gave my testimony and after the rally in the rotunda had mostly dissipated, I found myself downstairs watching some men and women in a prayer circle praying intently until a woman began thrashing uncontrollably, speaking incomprehensibly and being gently guided to the ground so that she could freak out safely. It was vaguely similar to an epileptic seizure as the woman was in the throes of the Holy spirit or something. It was quite dramatic, but ultimately of no real significance to the legal proceedings upstairs.
Kind of like FAPSMEG.
State House hearings on same sex marriage can be a pretty surreal scene; about half of the people will testify about equal rights under the law and the other half will testify about what it says in the Bible.
Seriously, this isn’t hyperbole. This is really how these things go down. Last year, Chris Young said marriage equality was a secret plot by communists to end capitalist procreation and Rev. Jay Stirnemann, a Pentecostal priest from Tiverton, warned that we would invite “God’s judgement” by allowing for equal relationship laws.
The year before that, Pat Baker testified that she had terminal cancer and wanted to legally marry her longtime partner before she died. Stirnemann testified that year too. Watch this video from the 2011 debate over civil unions at the House Judiciary Committee:
Baker died before marriage equality become law in Rhode Island. She won’t be able to testify again this year.
But rest assured Rev. Stirnemann will be there again today to testify about what he thinks it says in the Bible. That’s why it’s so important that progressives are there to testify about equal protection under the law.
A diverse coalition of progressive, political and religious leaders today announced the formation of Rhode Islanders United for Marriage.
“In the coming months, Rhode Islanders United for Marriage will run a campaign unlike any our state has seen before,” said Ray Sullivan, executive director of Marriage Equality Rhode Island a today’s event.
“Gay and lesbian families, straight allies, faith leaders, union members, business leaders, democrats and Republicans will come together, urging our state legislators to stand with the majority of Rhode Islanders who support same-sex marriage for any and lesbian couples.”
Governor Lincoln Chafee was not shy about bringing up Rhode Island’s history in support of his position:
“Rhode Island, as you all know, has a legacy of tolerance. It is the ideal upon which we were founded by Roger Williams. So it’s time to honor and affirm that legacy by ensuring that same-sex couples can enjoy the same fundamental rights, benefits and privileges as all other citizens of our state.”
Reverend Gene Dyszlewski, chair of the Rhode Island Religious coalition for Marriage Equality, talked of the ways in which the law impacts his ability to perform adequate pastoral care:
“I’m the one who has to discriminate. I’m the one who has to turn to same-sex couples in my congregation and say ‘No, you can’t get married,’ even though they want to marry for the same reason everybody else does. They want to make a loving commitment to each other, and they want to nurture and protect their families. I’m the one who has to say ‘No.’ I hope the legislature will pass and the governor will sign marriage equality, because marriage equality allows me to say ‘yes’ to loving couples within my faith community.”
Reverend Dr. Donald Anderson, who heads the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, took issue with religious conservatives who speak out against marriage equality, saying:
“The current bill under consideration, provides explicit, common sense protections for all clergy regarding their right to follow their conscience. Since the moment Roger Williams stepped across the borders of our beloved state, full freedom of religious conscience has been our heritage. This bill maintains that heritage. No clergy can required to perform a wedding that violates their conscience. Clergy making this choice are protected by this bill. In other words, for those clergy who choose not to perform a same gender marriage, nothing changes.”
RI AFL-CIO President George Nee presented the labor perspective on the issue:
“From a labor perspective, this issue is a human rights issue, it’s a civil rights issue, and it’s also a workers rights issue. It is totally unfair for a group of people in our society in this day and age to be denied these basic human civil and worker rights. The passage of this legislation in no way denies or takes away the rights of anyone else in our community.”
North Kingstown residents Sylvia and Anthony De Luca are staunch advocates for marriage equality. They have been married for over 50 years, and advocate on behalf of their daughter lesbian Luisa and her wife Brenda, who married in Massachusetts. Sylvia talked movingly of her daughter and daughter-in-law, who she loves every bit as much as she loves her two heterosexual sons. Anthony De Luca is a former state representative.
Martha Holt Castle, her wife Patricia and their two-year old son Tobin took the podium next. They are a committed young family raising children who lack, under current state law, the rights that any other family would enjoy.
This is just one of the many families Rhode Island is currently relegating to second class status.
Representative Art Handy, who introduced the Marriage Equality legislation, has done so for the past eleven years. He, and the majority of Rhode Islanders I am sure, would love this to be the last time. Senator Donna Nesselbush took the podium as the only openly gay state senator, she told how she wants this legislation to pass because she has finally found someone she wants to marry and spend her life with, but of course the current law forbids this.
This new coalition, as broad and powerful as it is, has its work cut out for it. An enormous amount of pressure needs to be brought upon the Senate if this bill is to pass, and so MERI was taking names, looking for people to phone bank, knock on doors, call their legislators and otherwise agitate for marriage equality.
This just might be the year it happens.
There’s a new coalition fighting for same sex marriage rights in Rhode Island and it consists of just about every political leader in the state except for Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed. She’s the only one left who still doesn’t support equality.
Rhode Islanders United for Marriage includes Gov. Linc Chafee, Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, General Treasurer Gina Raimondo, Secretary of State Ralph Mollis, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and a host of legislators. They, along with many progressive and religious leaders, will be at the Central Congregational Church in Providence this morning rallying support for the state to end its separate but equal relationship rights era.
It’s a show of force, to be sure.
And it makes sense – not only is it the right thing to do, it’s also a popular position in the Ocean State. A WPRI poll shows more than 56 percent of Rhode Island residents support same sex marriage rights and only 36 percent oppose them. There is a mandate for marriage equality.
Hopefully all of these leaders are lobbying Paiva Weed behind the scenes about how her bigoted stance against equality will affect her legacy, as well as the rest of her career. I’m certain I’m not alone in not wanting someone who stands in the way of equal rights under the law from ever being a judge…
