Lincoln Chafee

• Political Party: Republican
  
• Birth date: 3/26/53
  
• Profiles: Wikipedia

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Federico Santi and John Gacher have been a couple for four decades, so they plan to waste little time when Rhode Island joins the rest of New England in extending marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples on Thursday.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The fate of marriage equality legislation in Rhode Island could hinge on the exemptions it affords religious groups that oppose it, the state Senate president said Friday, just one day after the House overwhelmingly passed the bill.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Rhode Island House is poised to debate and vote on legislation that would allow gay and lesbian couples to marry — the first time the issue has gone to a legislative vote in the only New England state without same-sex marriage.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Legislation to allow gay marriage in Rhode Island is headed for a vote in the state House of Representatives after being unanimously endorsed Tuesday by a legislative committee.

Hundreds of supporters of same-sex marriage rights assembled at the Rhode Island Statehouse on Tuesday, urging lawmakers to make the nation’s smallest state the 10th to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed — and the last to do so in New England.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee said Thursday that he would likely veto any attempt to put same-sex marriage to a public vote, and said state lawmakers owe it to voters to decide the issue in the legislature. The Rhode Island House of Representatives is scheduled to vote within weeks on legislation that would allow same-sex couples to marry, however opponents of same-sex marriage have expressed their support for alternative legislation that would put the question before voters.

Rhode Island state Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed (D-Democrat) said Monday that, despite her opposition to same-sex marriage, she expects the issue will be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee in the upcoming legislative session if the House advances a bill.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The independent governor of Rhode Island said Tuesday that an upcoming Democratic primary could be key in determining whether the state will pass same-sex marriage legislation next year.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee on Monday issued an executive order directing state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed out of state as legal, and to treat married same-sex couples in the same manner as married heterosexual couples.

A bipartisan group backing legalization of same-sex marriage launched a new campaign on Monday, aimed at reshaping the debate from the topic of marriage “equality” to the value of “commitment.”