There are a lot of questions about what happened in Rhode Island. It looked like we were on a path to victory for marriage equality. But, that didn't happen. Joe Siegel tries to unravel what happened. He's based in Rhode Island and has a lot of good sources. The article is titled, Did Activists Thwart R.I. Marriage Equality Bill?:
Did members of the organization leading efforts to bring nuptials for same-sex couples to Rhode Island actually work with Democratic officials to prevent the passage of a marriage equality bill this year?Worth a read. If we're going to ultimately prevail, we need to know why we failed -- particularly when victory looked attainable.
A number of sources who asked to remain anonymous have come forward to make these allegations.
Openly gay House Speaker Gordon Fox (D-Providence) shocked LGBT activists on April 27 when he threw his support behind a civil unions bill, noting there was no chance of passing a marriage equality bill due to a lack of support in the House. State Reps. Peter Petrarca (D-Lincoln) and Patrick O’Neill (D-Pawtucket) said, however, there were enough votes to pass the bill in the House.
"Civil unions are unacceptable because they marginalize gay and lesbian couples in very significant ways," said Martha Holt, chair of Marriage Equality Rhode Island. "The General Assembly will essentially be legalizing a two-class system that subject thousands of Rhode Island same-sex couples to discrimination. We cannot support legislation that establishes a second class of citizens in Rhode Island."
This is another tale of mistrust between activists and advocacy groups. It seems that our advocacy groups aren't used to playing to win. They don't know how to have an inside/outside strategy. They're too concerned with their access to worry about actual progress. And, they get played by the actual insiders.
