After 16-years of trying, advocates for same-sex marriage have finally won in the heavily Roman Catholic state of Rhode Island.
On Thursday, on the Statehouse steps Governor Lincoln Chafee signed the bill legalizing same-sex marriage following a final 56-15 vote in the state House. The law will take effect on August, 1. Chafee, who has openly supported gay marriage since as early as 2004 as a Republican Senator, told the crowd of hundreds who had come to cheer and show their support for the legislation:
I know that you have been waiting for this day to come. I know you have loved ones that dreamed this would happen but did not live to see it. But I am proud to say that now at long last, you are free to marry the person you love.
66-year-old Raymond Beausejour, from North Providence, who has been with his partner for 32 years said, “”I’ve been waiting 32 years for this day, and I never thought it would come in my lifetime. For the first time in my life, I feel welcome in my own state.” And he is not the only one. Representative Frank Ferri, who first lobbied for same-sex marriage, and then later became a lawmaker himself said, “Today a dream has come true. No more hiding in the shadows. No more being ashamed of who we are.” Ferri and his partner plan to get married on August, 1—which also happens to be their 32nd anniversary—and they hope that House Speaker Gordon Fox will perform the ceremony.
Photo: AP/Charles Krupa