According to a press release from the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the state Senate approved SB 38 [Sub A], a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, by a vote of 26-12 on Wednesday.
"The Senate has abandoned society's most important institution and put their constituents on a collision course with the law," said NOM president Brian Brown. "Lawmakers have allowed themselves to be fooled into thinking they have protected people of faith when in fact they have put those who believe in true marriage in the crosshairs of the law and gay 'marriage' activists. It won't be long before the repercussions begin to be felt."
SB 38 does not create a new category of marriage for same-sex couples, he says. Rather, it completely redefines marriage for all people in Rhode Island. While it purports to include so-called religious liberty protections for churches and certain religious groups, it contains no protections for other faith-based organizations and no protections for small businesses and individuals who are frequently targeted for legal punishment over their refusal to countenance genderless marriage.
"Citizens in other states that have redefined marriage have heard the same shallow promises from elected officials that nobody will be negatively impacted by redefining our most important social institution," said Scott Spear, an Advisory Board Member for NOM Rhode Island. "It won't be long before gay 'marriage' activists start pressing hard their new found rights on the faithful in Rhode Island. In Vermont, Christian innkeepers were sued. It was Christian florists in Washington state. Elsewhere photographers, bakers, event venue operators, notary publics, justices of the peace and town clerks have all been targeted for punishment if they do not agree to go along with gay 'marriage' in violation of their deeply-held beliefs."
Brown said that the biggest losers in the redefinition of marriage will be children.
"For the first time, the state of Rhode Island is saying to its children they do not deserve both a mother and a father, and are backing a law that is designed to intentionally deprive some kids of either a mom or a dad," Brown said. "It's bad enough when families break down through divorce or death, but it's unconscionable when a state encourages this through policies that deprive children of the love of both a mother and a father. This is a very sad day for Rhode Island."
NOM is pledging to educate Rhode Islanders on the votes of their Senators and Representatives and to hold them accountable for redefining marriage.
"This isn't the end of the debate," Brown warns. "We intend to make sure that every Rhode Islander knows how their policymakers voted on this critical issue. We will hold the politicians accountable for their votes. Republicans, especially, will have to answer for abandoning marriage — a core position of the GOP platform — and many may face Republican challengers, as they should."
The legislation now goes back to the House, which previously passed it. Governor Chafee has already said that he will sign the bill when it reaches his desk.
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