Same-Sex Marriage Hearing Lasts Into Early Morning
EG's Sen. Hodgson speaks out in favor of same-sex marriage while Fr. Healey of OLM came out against.
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By midnight Thursday, people were still testifying for and against the same-sex marriage legislation (S-38) before the state Senate Judiciary Committee. More than 600 people signed up to testify and in groups of four they were called up.
Both of East Greenwich's state senators sit on the Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Dawson Hodgson (R-E.G., N.K., S.K., Narr.), early on spoke out in favor of the legislation: "If Rhode Islanders truly believe in family values, we need to value all families."
To the comments from some that the legislation harms marriage, Hodgson said, "No matter what this committee does, it won't touch your marriage. That's one of the nice things about the separation of church and state."
Sen. Lou Raptakis (D-Coventry, E.G., W.W.), who also sits on the committee, made no statements for or against during the hearing.
One of those who spoke for the "sanctity of marriage" and against same-sex marriage was Fr. Bernard Healey, pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Church in East Greenwich. Healey also serves at lobbyist for the Diocese of Providence. He said religious protections would be imperiled by passage of the bill.
Many who testified against the legislation echoed what Sen. Harold Metts (D-Prov.) referred to as the “cosmic battle between God and Satan.”
Pastor Jay Stirnemann of Tiverton said, "I speak for God. I am oppose to marriage between people of the same sex.... God established marriage, not you or me. The state has no right to define marriage."
Directing his conclusion to Sen. Donna Nesselbush (D-Pawt.), the main sponsor of the legislation in the Senate, Stirnemann said, "There will be serious consequences Sen. Nesselbush, if this passes. God watches."
Those voices were strongly supported by Sen. Harold Metts (D-Prov.), who spoke several times over the course of the evening against the bill, invoking God and the bible frequently.
Sen. Steve Archambault (D-Smithfield, Johnston, N. Prov.) also spoke frequently to those testifying, but in support of the bill.
"I don’t know how any man can stand before another man and say they know what the word of God is," Archambault said, refering to what he said was the condemning language of some of those who testified against the legislation.
Tony and Sylvia DeLuca of Saunderstown, married 53 years, testified in favor of the same-sex marriage bill, Tony noting telling about their daughter, Louisa, who is gay.
“Like any father, I just want to walk my little girl down the aisle,” he said.
Lise Iwon of South Kingstown spoke about her partner of 32 years, Peg Laurence, who died a year ago.
"Peg and I adored each other. Friends would say they envied us," she said. "Peg was and I am a passionate advocate for fairness."
Caroline Stouffer of East Greenwich got her chance to testify at 11:30 p.m., where she voiced her support of same-sex marriage. "Gay folks look just like us ... I don't think we should be writing discrimination into any of our laws."
By 12:15 a.m. Friday, seven of the ten senators on the judiciary committee were still listening to testimony, with dozens of names still on the list to testify.
of about 4 a.m., 9 of the 10-member of the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary committee were still listening to testimony at the hearing, according to Ray Sullivan, campaign directory for Rhode Islanders United for Marriage, a group that supports same-sex marriage.
Update: The testimony ended at 4:57 a.m. Friday. The committee did not vote on whether to move the legislation to the Senate floor.
Alicarn
8:22 am on Friday, March 22, 2013
To those who oppose gay marriage (ugh, I hate that term - it's just marriage) I always like to ask a question. When did they decide that they were straight?
Usually they can't answer and that's when I remind them that there really is no choice, that you are born straight or you are born gay, period.
I don't think anyone would chose to be gay; to choose to be harassed, preyed upon and discriminated against. Why would you choose to go through life knowing that you would find discrimination EVERYWHERE you go? Family, school, church, jobs, etc..
Our own government has told people it's okay to hate those who are gay.
We are ALL EQUAL and the closed minded legislators across our country will be waking up and doing what is right. EVERY little girl or boy needs to know that when they grow up and fall in love and choose to marry - that they can, regardless of their sexual preference.
The majority should never be allowed to vote on the rights of the minority. Equality for all.
la_mouffette
10:09 pm on Sunday, March 24, 2013
I am a strong supporter of gay civil rights.
I also appreciate open government and freedom of speech, so I really appreciated all the Senators staying late into the night and the next morning to hear everyone out. Bravo!
But, I would like to say one thing
to the middle-aged, white, gay man in the vivid red dress shirt and shaved head,
who was visible on camera during a large portion of the testimony:
late into the evening, when you were visibly laughing at and making fun of a woman who was testifying, I wanted to slap the silly condescension from your face.
Yes, she was arguing against your rights.
No, of course you shouldn't agree with her.
But the woman obviously grew up in horrible conditions, and was (according to part of her testimony) sexually molested by multiple people. It's hardly difficult to comprehend why she might be deeply uncomfortable with issues surrounding sexuality.
She appeared poor, and seemed to have a slight learning disability.
She was missing half her teeth.
She was not a dangerous political opponent by any stretch of the imagination.
She has obviously had a difficult life with very few chances, limited education,
and a lot of trauma.
Shame on you for mocking her.
You deserve your civil rights, sir, and I sincerely hope you will get them!....but she deserved a lot more tolerance and understanding than you showed.
Jerry Hoff
9:38 am on Monday, March 25, 2013
I gotta tell ya... there's a huge image problem. You have a whole contingency within the LGBT community that just plays to hard a hand when it comes to forcing the issue into everyone's face. From the drag parties to the stickers to the way out of control festival in Providence every year.... it's a huge image problem for the whole group perpetuated by perhaps a small fraction.
This topic will have to go through an evolutionary process just like many social changes have had to go through throughout history and I'm all for a democratic process to be applied and if the large portion of this group that gets it wants to expedite the process they may want to curb the nonsense of some of the others within the community.
I guess I should now post a disclaimer since I always find myself running my mouth in a non-politically correct way:
These are my thoughts and opinions alone. None of my family, friends, business associates, people I have had even a moderate interaction with, people I may have inadvertently bumped into, made eye contact with, driven past, flown over, swam near or even shared air, sun, snow, or rain with had any input on this column.