WPRO Newsroom and the Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The debate over same-sex marriage in Rhode Island is expected to heat up once again now that the state Senate has scheduled a key legislative hearing.
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on legislation to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry is scheduled for next Thursday.
The panel also plans to review legislation that seeks to place gay marriage on the 2014 ballot as a voter referendum. That idea is opposed by gay marriage supporters.
The committee has not scheduled a vote on either bill – a necessary step before the issue heads to the full Senate floor.
"We'll continue to resist the efforts for same-sex marriage in Rhode Island," Bishop Thomas Tobin told WPRO's Dan Yorke Thursday.
He said a new bill, introduced by Senator Frank Ciccone (D-Providence, North Providence) that would amend the constitution was "eminently reasonable."
"It's a good way to proceed. It allows us to make progress in the conversation and allows the conversation to advance," he said.
He said the bill provides some "very important assurances" and "protects the rights of all the parties involved."
Gay marriage legislation overwhelmingly passed the House in January but has hung in limbo in the Senate, where Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed has been a long-time opponent.
