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Edwards, Canario Support Gay Marriage Bill, Passage Likely

Tiverton's Rep. John G. Edwards and Rep. Dennis M. Canario support a bill submitted by Cranston State Rep. Arthur Handy to legalize gay marriage. After 10 years submitting the same bill, this year could be the year it finally gets to a floor vote.

 

 

For 10 years, Cranston Rep. Arthur Handy has introduced the same bill every legislative session that would allow same-sex couple to marry.

Despite resubmitting the bill annually, it has never before seen the a floor vote. This year that could all change, as House Speaker Gordon Fox pledged to put a vote to the floor by the end of the month.

The legislation has broad support, with 42 members of the House, including Rep. John G. Edwards (D-Dist. 70) and Rep. Dennis M. Canario (D.Dist. 71), signing on as sponsors and 11 members of the Senate.

“We are long overdue. Rhode Island, the colony founded on the principle of personal liberty, is now the only New England state that doesn’t allow same-gender couples equal marriage. Rhode Islanders recognize that same-gender couples deserve the rights and responsibilities that other couples already enjoy, and support has been getting wider every year. We know this can pass the House this year, and we know that Governor Chafee will sign it if we get it to him. This bill is about ending discrimination and creating true equality for all Rhode Islanders, promotes family stability and it affords plentiful protection for religious freedom. For the sake of all of those families who hang in the balance, we need marriage equality now,” said Rep. Arthur Handy (D-Dist. 18, Cranston), the lead sponsor in the House who has introduced the bill annually for over a decade.

Sen. Donna M. Nesselbush, a second-term senator who is openly gay, is taking the lead in the Senate this year after the retirement of the perennial Senate sponsor, former senator Rhoda E. Perry. Senator Nesselbush says the issue is “intensely personal” for her as well as thousands of other Rhode Islanders, and a matter of being on the “right side of history.”

“After many years, I have finally found the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, the woman I want to marry. We are both spiritual and want to deepen and strengthen our devotion. We are deeply in love, and are hoping and praying for marriage equality so we can tie the knot. But this is not about me or us. This is about the thousands of loving gay and lesbian couples who want and deserve the right to marry,” said Senator Nesselbush (D-Dist. 15, Pawtucket.) “I take my work and my civic responsibilities very seriously, and it’s ironic that I am qualified to be the chief judge of the City of Pawtucket and a state senator but somehow not qualified to marry.  If my conservative father were alive, even he would say ‘That’s just plain wrong and there ought to be a law.’ I implore my colleagues to join me in casting a vote on the right side of history…. The train has left the station. Marriage equality is inevitable. Young people cannot even understand why this is an issue. A crescendo is building, and most Rhode Islanders want us to enact marriage equality.”

Speaker Fox, who is also gay, is the first cosponsor listed on the House bill. He has indicated he is interested in bringing it before the full House for a vote early in the session. A vote is expected in the Senate Judiciary Committee if the vote passes the House. The legislation, which will be assigned to each chamber’s respective Judiciary Committee, has never previously come out of committee for a vote on the floor of either chamber. 

“Senate President [M. Teresa] Paiva Weed has honorably promised that there will be a vote on the issue, and with nine states, the District of Columbia and the president of the United States all embracing marriage equality, we have never been closer,” said Senator Nesselbush. “Let this be the year Rhode Island joins the burgeoning force for equality that is sweeping our nation.”

The legislation removes gender-specific language from the section of the general laws that governs eligibility for marriage. It inserts language that allows any person to marry any other eligible person, regardless of gender.

Additionally, it includes language stating that marriage is recognized by the state to promote stable relationships and provide important legal protections to couples and their immediate and extended families.

The bill reiterates constitutionally guaranteed freedom for religious institutions to set their own guidelines for marriage eligibility within their faith, and stipulation that under no circumstances will clergy or others authorized to perform marriages be obligated by law to officiate at any particular civil marriage or religious rite of marriage.

“Regarding religious freedom, no religious organziation should or will be required to perform a wedding that is contrary to their faith. At the same time, no faith that does support marriages between people of the same gender should be barred from performing them either. Our current law is actually violating their religious freedom,” said Represenative Handy.

Rhode Island passed a law in 2011 allowing civil unions for same-gender couples as a compromise measure, but relatively few have taken advantage of it, and many have criticized civil unions as a less-than-equal offering to same-gender couples.

In September, a WPRI poll of 501 likely voters in Rhode Island found that 56 percent of Rhode Islanders support same-gender marriage, and only 36 percent oppose it.

The sponsors of the bill in the House include:

  • Rep. Arthur Handy (D-Dist. 18, Cranston)
  • House Speaker Gordon D. Fox (D-Dist. 4, Providence)
  • Rep. Grace Diaz (D-Dist. 11, Providence)
  • Rep. Elaine A. Coderre (D-Dist. 60, Pawtucket)
  • House Majority Leader Nicholas Mattiello (D-Dist. 15, Cranston)
  • Rep. Edith H. Ajello (D-Dist. 1, Providence)
  • Rep. Frank G. Ferri (D-Dist. 22, Warwick)
  • Rep. J. Patrick O’Neill (D-Dist. 59, Pawtucket)
  • Rep. Deborah Ruggiero (D-Dist. 74, Jamestown, Middletown)
  • Rep. Anastasia P. Williams (D-Dist. 9, Providence)
  • Rep. Larry Valencia (D-Dist. 39, Richmond, Exeter, Hopkinton)
  • Rep. Thomas Palangio (D-Dist. 3, Providence)
  • Rep. Teresa Tanzi (D-Dist. 34, South Kingstown, Narragansett)
  • Rep. Eileen S. Naughton (Dist. 21, Warwick)
  • Rep. David A. Bennett (D-Dist. 20, Warwick, Cranston)
  • Rep. Karen MacBeth (D-Dist. 52, Cumberland)
  • Rep. John G. Edwards (D-Dist. 70, Tiverton, Portsmouth)
  • Rep. William O’Brien (D-Dist. 54, North Providence)
  • Rep. Marvin L. Abney (D-Dist. 73, Newport, Middletown)
  • Rep. Christopher R. Blazejewski (D-Dist. 2, Providence)
  • Rep. Lisa P. Tomasso (D-Dist. 29, Coventry, West Greenwich)
  • Rep. Agostinho F. Silva (D-Dist. 56, Central Falls)
  • Rep. Donna M. Walsh (D-Dist. 36, Charlestown, New Shoreham, South Kingstown, Westerly)
  • Rep. Katherine Kazarian (D-Dist. 63, East Providence)
  • Rep. Mia Ackerman (D-Dist. 45, Cumberland, Lincoln)
  • Rep. Linda Finn (D-Dist. 72, Middletown, Portsmouth)
  • Rep. Cale P. Keable (D-Dist. 47, Burrillville, Glocester)
  • Rep. Gregg M. Amore (D-Dist. 65, East Providence)
  • Rep. Scott A. Slater (D-Dist. 10, Providence)
  • Rep. Dennis M. Canario (D-Dist. 71, Little Compton, Portsmouth, Tiverton)
  • Rep. Peter F. Martin (D-Dist. 75, Newport)
  • Rep. Scott J. Guthrie (D-Dist. 28, Coventry)
  • Rep. Joy Hearn (D-Dist. 66, Barrington, East Providence)
  • Rep. Jeremiah T. O’Grady (D-Dist. 46, Lincoln, Pawtucket)
  • Rep. Maria E. Cimini (D-Dist. 7, Providence)
  • Rep. Kenneth A. Marshall (D-Dist. 68, Bristol, Warren)
  • Rep. Robert E. Craven Sr. (D-Dist. 32, North Kingstown)
  • Rep. Donald J. Lally Jr. (D-Dist. 33, South Kingstown, Narragansett)
  • Rep. Joseph S. Almeida (D-Dist. 12, Providence)
  • Rep. Mary Duffy Messier (D-Dist. 62, Pawtucket)
  • Rep. K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick)
  • Rep. William San Bento Jr. (D-Dist. 58, Pawtucket).
  • The sponsors of the bill in the Senate include:
  • Sen. Donna M. Nesselbush (D-Dist. 15, Pawtucket)
  • Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski (D-Dist. 37, South Kingstown, New Shoreham)
  • Sen. Joshua Miller (D-Dist. 28, Cranston, Providence)
  • Sen. Juan M. Pichardo (D-Dist. 2, Providence)
  • Sen. Christopher Scott Ottiano (R-Dist. 11, Portsmouth, Bristol)
  • Sen. Erin P. Lynch (D-Dist. 31, Warwick)
  • Sen. Gayle Goldin (D-Dist. 3, Providence)
  • Sen. Catherine Cool Rumsey (D-Dist. 34, Exeter, Charlestown, Hopkinton, Richmond, West Greenwich)
  • Sen. Adam J. Satchell (D-Dist. 9, West Warwick)
  • Sen. Ryan W. Pearson (D-Dist. 19, Cumberland, Lincoln)
  • Sen. Stephen R. Archambault (D-Dist. 22, Smithfield, Johnston, North Providence).

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Related Topics: Gay Marriage, RI gay marriage bill, Rep. Dennis M. Canaio, and Rep. John G. Edwards

Mike

5:48 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013

Very proud to call Tiverton my second home! Thank you Rep. Jay Edwards and Rep. Dennis Canario for your support on this issue. Thank you to Linda Finn, who, like Rep. Canario, successfully challenged an anti-equality incumbent. Finally, thank you to Sen. Chris Ottiano, the lone Republican to lend his support.

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Joe Sousa.

4:41 pm on Saturday, January 5, 2013

I think it's time all Americans are treated equal. Fair and equal treatment under the law .It's also time for those who appose this for religious reasons to understand . The Churches position is not every one belief. We are a free country and people have the right to live their lives as they chose. It does not change what you believe and cherish. The Sacraments of Holy Matrimony belongs to the Christian Religion.
Sacraments of Holy Matrimony
www.copticchurch.net/topics/.../sacraments/6_matrimony.html
Marriage is a contract that two people enter in to recognized by the State and Federal Government .

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Richard Joslin

3:18 pm on Sunday, January 6, 2013

I can't wait ! Gay Love is great !

Brain Mederble

6:57 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013

Frankly, is anyone surprised that Rep. Canario has done more in his 2 days in office than Dan Gordon did in his 2 years as our PCC/TCC-endorsed representative?

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b kcaj

7:20 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013

Finally, a representative that citizens can be proud of, as opposed to that lowlife Dan Gordon, who was an embarrassment to the towns of Portsmouth and Tiverton, the state of Rhode Island, and the United Sates of America.

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Rep. Dan Gordon

9:03 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013

Seems the half-wits that that live to puke on themselves here, don't get out much. Try Google, children. I had 43 co-sponsors on my bill. Dopes.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/11711-rhode-island-house-defends-constitution-passes-anti-ndaa-resolution

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Rep. Dan Gordon

9:16 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013

First state legislator in the country to recognize a problem with #NDAA. You are welcome.

http://www.wnd.com/2012/01/single-state-defies-obama-detention-plan/

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Just Another Taxpayer

10:24 am on Saturday, January 5, 2013

Stop calling yourself Rep. Dan Gordon. You are a disgrace to the citizens of Portsmouth and Tiverton. How is your war record? Oh that's right, you never served in Afghanistan or Iraq? How is your construction company doing? Oh, that's right, you never owned one.

b kcaj

9:47 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013

Oh no-Just when you thought the state had heard the last of him, Dan "The Watchman" Gordon is back.

Anyone want to take bets on how long it takes him to get all boozed up, beat up a woman, run from the police, and end up back in the ACI?

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b kcaj

9:48 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013

And by the way "watchman", you need to change your screen name to EX-Rep.-hahahaha.

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Brain Mederble

10:59 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013

Looks like the ex-Rep. has spent more time googling himself on teabagger/conspiracy theorist websites that he did fighting the tolls in his district the last 6 months! Thanks for nothing.

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b kcaj

11:03 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013

It's just a matter of time before we hear Dan Gordon's name again in the news. He'll either beat up a woman, fight with the police, or commit some other type of crime. The fact is, Dan Gordon is a violent psycohpath, and the world will be a safer place when he is once again put behind bars.

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bigmanny

11:18 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013

I for one would like to thank rep Gordon for taking time from his busy day at his fake construction company and Internet trolling to let us all know what he did for us. Perhaps now he can also explain the secret mission that the gov had him on during the war . It was so secret and so dangerous, getting wounded just outside of Baghdad that there are no records of his heroic efforts. What we do have records of are troubles with the law, beating women and trolling the web. We need more men like this on smith hill.

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b kcaj

11:54 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013

No Gulf War record found for R.I. lawmaker
By David Klepper - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Sep 23, 2011 15:23:59 EDT

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Military service records for a Rhode Island lawmaker who has blamed a string of legal troubles on combat stress he suffered in the 1991 Gulf War indicate he never served in the Middle East.

State Rep. Daniel Gordon’s Marine Corps records, obtained by The Associated Press, list him as an aircraft technician who served from 1987 to 1991 in the U.S. and Japan. Gordon has said his leg was injured by shrapnel outside Baghdad.

Gordon’s records also list no Purple Heart award for an injury.

The Portsmouth Republican is fighting calls for his resignation following his arrest on charges stemming from a 2008 police chase in Massachusetts. The arrest exposed past legal problems, including a four-month sentence in 1999 for assault, an attempted murder charge dismissed in 2004 and a long list of traffic offenses in Massachusetts.

Gordon has said his problems sprang from alcohol abuse relating to post-traumatic stress from his service.

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b kcaj

12:02 am on Saturday, January 5, 2013

Rhode Island state Rep. Daniel Gordon (R) was arrested Sunday and charged with driving on a suspended license, according to the Providence Journal. That arrest exposed Gordon's criminal record in Massachusetts and alerted police to an outstanding warrant he had there in connection with a 2008 police chase.

After House Republicans said Gordon should resign, Middletown Patch reported, the state representative said his problems stemmed from PTSD-fueled alcoholism, a product of his service in the Gulf War. He also claimed he was injured by shrapnel in Baghdad.

Not so much.

The AP obtained Gordon's military records and discovered that he had never been near a battlefield while serving as a military aircraft technician. Records show he never received the Purple Heart -- an award typically given to any service member wounded in a war zone, unless the injury was caused by an accident or friendly fire -- contradicting his claims about being injured in Baghdad.

This latest arrest adds to Gordon's extensive criminal record. He previously spent more than five months locked up on charges of attempted murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and for a assaulting and threatening to kill his girlfriend

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b kcaj

12:07 am on Saturday, January 5, 2013

RI State rep no Gulf War veteran

September 23rd, 2011

Daniel Gordon, a state representative in Rhode Island blamed a spate of legal troubles on his PTSD which he was inflicted with in the first Gulf War, along with some shrapnel wounds as a Marine. Of course, you know the real story because we’re showcasing the Republican on TAH. Associated Press acquired his military records and discovered that was some powerful shrapnel because he was in Japan during the Gulf War. (Providence Channel 10 link)

On Friday, Gordon insisted that his service record is incomplete. He said he couldn’t provide evidence of his time in Iraq because many of his photos and keepsakes from his service were destroyed in a house fire when he was living in Fall River, Mass., in 2005.

“I’m disappointed that the DOD didn’t provide you with a full and accurate record,” he told the AP on Friday. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”

Records obtained from the Marine Corps show Gordon joined the Marines on June 4, 1987, and served at bases in South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington and California, and spent six months with an aviation unit at a Marine Corps air station in Japan.

Proving that people who lie about their military records have other things to hide, Gordon’s arrest record in Massachusetts turns out to be extensive, as well. But lucky for us, he announced that he’ll run for office again next year.

No shame.

Thanks to 1stCavRVN11B for the tip.

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b kcaj

12:18 am on Saturday, January 5, 2013

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Embattled state Rep. Daniel Gordon did not receive the Purple Heart or serve in the Middle East but did spend four years as a U.S. Marine, according to military records obtained Friday by the Target 12 Investigators.

The records show Gordon served in the U.S. Marine Corps from June 1987 to November 1991, specializing as an aircraft technician and achieving the rank of private first class. He receives a military pension of $123 a month, a VA spokeswoman confirmed.

Gordon was stationed at four U.S. bases in South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington and California as a Marine. His only overseas service was six months at a Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, Japan, according to the records. Gordon had told reporters he sustained shrapnel injuries outside Baghdad during the first Gulf War.

The Portsmouth lawmaker received two awards - a National Defense Service Medal and a Sea Service Deployment Ribbon - but no Purple Heart for a combat injury. The Associated Press first reported the discrepancies earlier Friday.

The date of birth on Gordon's official legislative biography also appears to be incorrect. It says his birthday is May 12, 1969, but police and military records list it as April 12 of that year.

The biography also contains a minor error about Gordon's educational background. He took a digital course through San Diego State University in the fall of 2006, not 2005, university spokesman Greg Block told Target 12.

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b kcaj

5:59 am on Saturday, January 5, 2013

You would think a guy like Gordon that was such a disgrace to his country would try to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible and hide his head in shame, but instead he gets all fueled up on booze and starts spewing his garbage all over the Patch.

Go away Gordon-you're a disgrace to society.

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Kevin

11:19 am on Saturday, January 5, 2013

Gordon's repeated postings appears to be a sign of a serious mental disorder. I'd be very concerned if he was my neighbor or had any association with him whatsoever. Time bomb! tic tic tic.....

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The Shill

12:32 pm on Saturday, January 5, 2013

People wake up this is not the real Dan Gordon it is just some troll trying to get a rise out of you and it's working ignore him and he will go away. The real Dan Gordon never posted under his real name anyway he always posted under the name Al Carvine.

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Kevin Healey

12:36 pm on Saturday, January 5, 2013

Different Kevin... The state of Rhode Island is in the toilet bowl waiting for someone to press the flush lever, yet our Rep's Edwards & Canario are focused on the burning issue of same sex marriage. Mr. Canario personally told me that his number one issue was JOBS. New Rep, S.O.S.

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Mike

5:18 pm on Saturday, January 5, 2013

I don't think passing this bill stands in the way of jobs. This is an easy issue to address. Other issues are far more complicated.

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Joe Sousa.

5:24 pm on Saturday, January 5, 2013

Kevin Healey, The Legislature kills jobs. 10.4% unemployment ,Hundreds of businesses closed their doors in 2012. Think about it!

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b kcaj

5:55 pm on Saturday, January 5, 2013

So Joe, could you please tell the readers about the accomplishments of your partner in crime, disgraced Representative Dan Gordon? Surely you must know of something Gordon did to stimulate the economy. Please do tell Joe.

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Kevin Healey

7:31 pm on Saturday, January 5, 2013

My point exactly Joe. Unfortunately there is no uemployment at the legislature. 60 miles to the north the NH legislature is paid $200 a year, they meet every other year and the unemployment rate in NH is 5.2%. As you know there is no sales tax in NH. There is definately something wrong in RI, but you already know that Joe.

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