Today, Gov. Chafee penned an Op/Ed in the New York Times that talked about how, as a Republican U.S. Senator, he stood up in 2004 against the proposed federal marriage amendment.

I was one of only four members of the entire Senate to take that stand, along with Senators Ron Wyden, Edward M. Kennedy and Russell Feingold — three of the most socially liberal members of the chamber at the time. Hardly common company for a Republican.

As it turned out, I did lose office in 2006, as part of the general rejection of Republican leadership that year. But I was elected governor as an independent in 2010, and I was proud to see that my stand on gay marriage stood up well over the years.

A historic realignment is happening all around us, as Americans from all walks of life realize that this is the right thing to do. It is occurring both inside and outside of politics, through conversations at the office and over kitchen tables, and at different speeds in different parts of the country. But once the people have spoken, politics should do its part to make the change efficient and constructive.

The historic vote in Rhode Island was bolstered by the unanimous support of the Senate Republican Caucus, the first legislative caucus of any political party in any state to unanimously support the freedom to marry.

Marriage equality has been building momentum over the past several weeks both here at home and abroad. France and New Zealand’s parliaments both approved legislation last month. While supporters in Delaware and Illinois are hoping to soon follow in Rhode Island’s footsteps. Efforts are also underway in New Jersey, Oregon, and Minnesota.

And we are closer than ever to a resolution in AFER’s challenge to California’ Proposition 8 with a Supreme Court decision expected by the end of June.

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The State Senate has approved marriage equality legislation by a 26-12 vote. After a concurring vote by the House, which has already approved similar legislation, the bill will go to Governor Lincoln Chaffee, who has promised to sign it into law.

Once that happens, the Ocean State will become the last in the Northeast to win the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian citizens. This move has been a long time coming. Back in late 2008, in the wake of Proposition 8, GLAD launched a “six by twelve” campaign to enact marriage equality in all six northeast states by 2012. Well, it took a couple months longer, but now at last the goal has been achieved.

Yesterday, the Senate’s Republican Caucus announced it unanimously supported the legislation, making it the first legislative caucus of any political party in any state to unanimously support the freedom to marry.

A recent poll by Public Policy Polling showed 57% of voters support the freedom to marry in RI, with just 35% opposed.

Watch this video of the vote:

Anti-gay comments overshadow the Super Bowl, but they can’t stop progress in Arizona, Hawaii, and Rhode Island. We have new legislation and strong polling to carry marriage forward from coast to coast. Plus, amicus briefs in the Prop 8 case.

Last week a member of the San Francisco 49ers drew fire for openly rejecting the possibility of having gay teammates. Team management distanced themselves form his remarks. But others players followed that up by claiming that they hadn’t made an It Gets Better video that they actually had. Meanwhile, a player on the rival Baltimore Ravens has been an outspoken supporter of the freedom to marry. Brendon Ayanbadejo said he’ll reach out to the 49ers and to the public on the issue of marriage.

Meanwhile in Arizona, State Senator Steve Gallardo has introduced two marriage equality bills. One would repeal the existing constitutional ban on marriage, and the other would repeal the state’s statutory ban. This may seem like a long shot, but the polling is actually pretty encouraging. A Public Policy Polling survey from a year ago showed a near-tie, with 44% supporting marriage equality and 45% against.

A political action committee in Michigan is collecting signatures to put marriage equality on the ballot. Marriage Michigan PAC wants to gather 300,000 signatures and raise $10 million for a 2014 vote. But Equality Michigan is skeptical about the effort. They’ve been laying the groundwork for a ballot measure in 2016. Polling in Michigan has steadily improved, but it’s still close.A November survey showing 56% support.

We also have new polling data from Hawaii, with support now at 55% to 37% opposed. Legislators may vote on marriage equality bills in the coming months. There’s also a lawsuit in progress over the state’s marriage ban.

Numbers are even stronger in Rhode Island, where 57% support marriage to 36% opposed. A marriage bill passed the House last month but it’s slowed down in the Senate.

And there’s new data from Pennsylvania, where we have a plurality of support. Forty-seven percent favor marriage, with 43% opposed. That’s a slow but steady improvement over the last decade in the state. The Pennsylvania Democratic Party added marriage equality to the official party platform last year, and several pro-equality legislators won their elections in November. Pennsylvania may become a state to watch in the next year for renewed efforts to pass a marriage bill.

There’s been progress in Wyoming, where a domestic partnership bill advanced further than any such measure ever has before. Although the bill ultimately failed in a House vote, it was the first time that any pro-LGBT legislation made it that far in the state legislature.

And finally this week, various groups have filed amicus briefs in support of Prop 8 with the US Supreme Court. The next milestone will be briefs from the plaintiffs on February 21st, briefs in support of the plaintiffs a week after that, and then oral argument on March 26th.

We’ll have more news on the Prop 8 case, as well as developments from the states, in the coming weeks. Subscribe on YouTube, @AFER on Twitter, and at Facebook.com/AmericanEqualRights for the latest. You can also pledge your support at AFER.org and sign up for breaking email alerts.

Overview

Major milestones this week, with a vote in Rhode Island and hearings in Colorado. A setback in Virginia, but polling shows the state may soon turn around. Plus, support from an unexpected source in an unexpected state.

Transcript

Major milestones this week, with a vote in Rhode Island and hearings in Colorado. A setback in Virginia, but polling shows the state may soon turn around. Plus, support from an unexpected source in an unexpected state.

At the American Foundation for Equal Rights, I’m Matt Baume. Welcome to Marriage News Watch for January 21, 2013.

It’s going to be another busy week for marriage equality, with a committee vote slated for Tuesday in Rhode Island. The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony last week. This first vote is an early test of our renewed momentum in the state. And a full House vote has been promised within the next two weeks.

Passage in the House appears likely, but it’s far from certain in the Senate. Visit RIUnitedForMarriage.org for more information about the vote, and ways that you can help.

We’re also expecting a Tuesday hearing in Colorado. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear Senate Bill 11, which would legalize civil unions in the state. Sponsors are hoping to get the bill to the governor’s desk by mid-February, but there may be obstacles to a speedy passage. Visit one-colorado.org for the latest updates on the campaign for civil unions.

Meanwhile in Illinois, support is growing for a marriage equality legislation. Major employers, including Google, Orbitz, Groupon, and Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts have signed a letter urging lawmakers to pass the bill. Legislators are likely to take up the measure sometime after early February.

And there’s some good news from an unexpected source: Republicans in Wyoming. Democratic lawmakers introduced marriage and civil union bills in the House. And now Republican Representative Keith Gingery supports the marriage bill, with Republican Representative Ruth Ann Petroff supporting civil unions. Both measures are long shots, but it’s an encouraging bipartisan start.

And some disappointment in Virginia, where Delagate Scott Surovell’s attempt to overturn a marriage ban has failed in committee. The good news is that polling has gradually improved in the state. Two years ago, marriage equality had just 34% support. By June of 2012, that number had risen to 42%.

And finally this week, the price of marriage discrimination has gone up yet again. Congressional Republicans have authorized nearly $3 million for defending DOMA before the US Supreme Court. The court is scheduled to hear arguments in the Prop 8 and DOMA cases in late March.

We’ll have breaking news on those cases, as well as developments from the states, in the coming weeks. Subscribe here on YouTube, @AFER on Twitter, and at Facebook.com/AmericanEqualRights. You can also pledge your support at AFER.org and sign up for breaking email alerts.

At the American Foundation for Equal Rights, I’m Matt Baume. Thanks for watching.

Big news coming this week from Rhode Island, where we may see the year’s first hearing on marriage equality. New lawmakers in Illinois and Colorado express eagerness to pass marriage and civil unions bills. Two lawsuits join forces in Hawaii and Nevada, plus one unlikely country that saw support for marriage double over the last decade.

Marriage equality bills were introduced in the Rhode Island Senate and the House on January 3, 2013. After an unexpected defeat in 2011, a marriage equality bill is poised for passage this year.

This has been a long time coming—it was in November of 2008 that Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders launched their “Six by Twelve” campaign. The goal was to gain marriage equality in all six new England states by the end of 2012. We’ve missed that deadline, but it might only be a few more months before Rhode Island joins its five neighbors and completes GLAD’s 2008 plan.

We might actually have reached the 2012 goal if not for a few reluctant Democrats. That included Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, who opposed the freedom to marry and resisted holding a floor vote. Eventually lawmakers dropped the marriage bill and opted instead for civil unions.

But now the marriage bill is back and Weed says that there will indeed be a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee this year.

Meanwhile, public support is strongly in favor of marriage equality. The most recent survey, conducted two years ago, showed 50% of voters supported marriage and only 41% were opposed. Given that national public opinion has dramatically shifted in the last two years, we can expect those numbers of support to be even higher now.

What You Can Do

If you live in Rhode Island, contact your legislator. You can also get involved with Marriage Equality Rhode Island.

Here we are at the end of 2012, and after a year of amazing progress we’re closer than ever to full federal marriage equality. Think about where we were a year ago with Prop 8, with DOMA, with marriage laws from state to state. So much has happened since then. So let’s do a quick year-in-review to get you caught up with the progress we made in 2012, and where we’re going to focus in 2013, including which states are the most likely to make headlines in the coming year.

In this week’s update: A leaked memo urges an about-face for anti-equality Republicans. A civil unions bill dies in Colorado, for now. But access to marriage expands in Rhode Island, and more new surveys confirm the ever-growing public support for equality