It hasn’t even been a week since same-sex marriage was legalized in New York and we have another state moving in the right direction. The Rhode Island State Senate approved Wednesday evening a bill allowing civil unions for gay couples with a vote of 21-16. That bill was then directly sent to the governor’s desk, which the governor, Lincoln Chafee, said he will likely sign. This new bill would grant gay and lesbian couples most of the same benefits and rights that married couples currently receive in Rhode Island. However, many gay and lesbian Rhode Islanders aren’t too happy as they are looking for full marriage equality and with the wording in this new civil unions bill, it still leaves things open for some discrimination for gay couples. Namely, the right for religious institutions such as a church-funded hospital to deny a civil union spouse the right to be a part of his or her partner’s medical care or treatment. For this reason, Marriage Equality Rhode Island (MERI) is fighting the bill and asking for the removal of this portion of the bill, which was a House amendment. According to Reuters, “if the amendment is not removed by the senate, MERI will ask Governor Chafee to veto the bill, MERI executive director Gene Dyszlewski said.”
