Armed with chants and shouted prayers, more than 300 opponents and proponents of same-sex marriage faced off Sunday on the south lawn of the Rhode Island State House on Sunday.

Two members of the National Organization for Marriage pray as a pro-same-sex-marriage protester waves the gay-rights rainbow flag above them. (via Providence Journal)

Speakers from the New Jersey-based National Organization for Marriage seemed startled as they were encircled by gay rights advocates who yelled, sang, waved the rainbow flag, and chanted “Get your hate out of our state.”

The NOM rode into town as part of a 19 state bus tour, opposing same sex marriage.

Currently, same sex marriage is legal in four New England states, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire, but not Rhode Island, and protesters say they want to keep it that way.

Cicilline

Cicilline, 49, Rhode Island’s first openly gay mayor, became the second Democrat to declare his candidacy for the congressional seat, just two days after Kennedy’s unexpected announcement that he would not seek re-election.

He said his time on the job gives him the proper perspective on the struggles of middle-class Americans, reports the Providence Journal.

“Washington is really disconnected from the families in America,” Cicilline, attired in a dress shirt, open at the collar, sweater and slacks, told reporters gathered in a hallway at a school on Thurbers Avenue. “I see very directly what this economy has done” to families.

Cicilline said his role as mayor has taught him how to bring people together to solve problems, something he said national political leaders seem to forgo in favor of “posturing.”

Cicilline said he would not step down as Providence’s mayor during his run for Congress; he has held the job for nearly eight years.

William Lynch, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said he will also seek the seat.

Gordon Fox (Photo credit: Providence Journal)

Fox, 48, announced he was gay in 2004 during a Statehouse rally in support of gay marriage.

He said in an interview with The Providence Journal that he is “in a long-term relationship, but not officially married. … When I get married, I would like to do it in my home state.”

Fox said he was reluctant to make a hard-and-fast commitment to bring the issue to the House floor for a vote without “a lot of internal discussions.” But, “we should have equal marriage rights in Rhode Island … That would definitely be something on a personal level I would like to see.”

Rhode Island is the only New England state besides Maine that does not recognize same-sex marriage.

Besides being the first openly gay lawmaker to preside over the House, Fox is also the first minority lawmaker to hold what is arguably the state’s most powerful political post. Fox is the biracial son of an Irish father and a Cape Verdean mother, athough he identifies himself as black.

Last month in California, Assembly member John Perez made history as the first openly gay lawmaker to be elected Speaker of his state’s Assembly.

Attorney General Patrick Lynch and General Treasurer Frank Caprio, both Democrats, and former Sen. Lincoln Chafee, an independent, have been invited by Marriage Equality Rhode Island to make their pledge public at a rally at the Statehouse on March 3.

Although the three candidates previously have said they support gay marriage, the pledges come as gay rights activists hope to capitalize on the departure of Republican Gov. Don Carcieri, a staunch social conservative who opposes gay unions.

One of the major obstacles to pro-gay marriage legislation in Rhode Island has been the anticipated veto from the governor’s office.

Last November, Carcieri vetoed a bill allowing funeral planning rights for gay partners, and in October he delivered a “traditional marriage” address at a fund raising banquet for the anti-gay Massachusetts Family Institute. The funeral planning rights veto was later overridden by the legislature.

State law requires Carcieri to leave office after finishing his second term early next year.

Rhode Island is the only New England state besides Maine that does not recognize gay marriage.

However, three bills are pending in 2010 before the state’s General Assembly. The first bill would allow same-sex marriage, the second bill will ban same sex marriage and the third bill would provide a Reciprocal Beneficiary Agreement (similar to Hawaii and Colorado) under Rhode Island law.

The House, and then the Senate, voted to override Carcieri’s veto of a bill grating domestic partners the right to claim the bodies of, and make funeral arrangements for, their loved ones.

The House vote was 67 to 3 and the Senate vote was 29 to 3.

In his veto message on November 10, Carcieri said: “This bill represents a disturbing trend over the past few years of the incremental erosion of the principles surrounding traditional marriage, which is not the preferred way to approach this issue.”

At the time, Sen. Rhoda Perry and Rep. David Segal, the bill sponsors, promised they would seek to override the veto.

The funeral arrangements bill covers domestic partners regardless of their sexual orientation, but was passed after moving testimony of Mark Goldberg, who said it took well over a month for him to arrange the cremation of his longtime partner Ron Hanby because various state agencies refused to recognize their relationship and release Hanby’s body to him.

“Not being able to claim his body was certainly something that was beyond belief, was beyond human compassion from anyone,” Goldberg said. “There was just no compassion whatsoever from anyone in the state.”

Following the veto override Tuesday, Goldberg said he was “just thankful the [lawmakers] recognized the importance of this bill.”

“Maybe it’s something we should consider,” said Carcieri, after meeting privately Thursday for more than an hour in his office with a half-dozen members of Queer Action of Rhode Island, a group that in the immediate aftermath of his veto had labeled him “a bigot.”

Among those attending was Mark Goldberg, the Providence East Sider whose five-week battle to claim the body of his partner of 17 years from the state morgue, had sparked the vetoed legislation.

Citing as a possible model the “everything but marriage” referendum that won approval in the state of Washington earlier this month, Carcieri said: “I don’t know enough, yet. All I am saying is I understand the circumstances. I understand the difficulties” that can arise for same-sex couples and others — such as widows living with widowers, and widows with other widows — outside the legal framework of a traditional marriage.

“Let’s see if we can find a way to solve that without discreet [pieces] of legislation every time something comes up. I just don’t think that is the right way to deal with it,” he said.

Full story at the Providence Journal.

The socially conservative Republican said the proposed protection represents a “disturbing trend” of the incremental erosion of heterosexual marriage. Rhode Island does not recognize same-sex marriage.

“If the General Assembly believes it would like to address the issue of domestic partnership, it should place the issue on the ballot and let the people of the State of Rhode Island decide,” Carcieri said in a letter to lawmakers.

Sen. Rhoda Perry and Rep. David Segal, the bill sponsors, said they would seek to override the veto. They proposed the legislation after one of their constituents was unable to retrieve the body of his late partner from the state medical examiner for weeks because they weren’t married or next-of-kin.

Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in the Legislature and frequently override Carcieri’s objections.

Full story at the Nashua Telegraph.

Carcieri said on WPRO Radio on Wednesday that he agreed at the request of a friend to be the keynote speaker at a fund raising banquet for Massachusetts Family Institute. The organization also believes it’s unhealthy for children to be raised by unwed adults or same-sex couples.

Queer Action of Rhode Island, a group that supports marriage equality, has sent a letter to the governor’s office dated August 29 asking him not to attend the event.

The group says in its letter that it’s “appalling” that Carcieri would support an organization that “advocates against the lives of some R.I. citizens.”

Carcieri said that he is not familiar with the organization’s website, but his opposition to same-sex marriage is well-known, and that the issue should be decided by voters, not the Legislature.

The chairman of Rhode Island’s Democratic party and a group supporting same-sex marriage have condemned Carcieri’s decision.

A spokeswoman for the Republican governor says Carcieri has no plans to cancel the unpaid appearance, scheduled for Oct. 5.

Brochures for this Sunday’s “Celebrate Marriage and Family Day“ in Warwick, R.I., listed the popular coffee-and-donut chain as one of its sponsors. The weekend celebration is being put on by the National Organization for Marriage, which lobbies against same-sex marriage.

But a statement posted today on Tim Hortons’ website says the celebration — which includes an opportunity for married couples to renew their vows — falls outside its sponsorship guidelines, and that the company would not be lending its support.

According to the statement, Tim Hortons welcomes “all families and communities” to its restaurants and apologizes for any “misunderstanding or inconvenience” caused by the deal, saying that it’s “not its corporate policy to sponsor events of religious groups, political affiliates or lobby groups.”

Tim Hortons has more than 2,800 stores across Canada, and over 400 locations in the United States, mostly in Michigan, Maine, Connecticut, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island.

More on this story from the Providence Daily Dose.