Gay marriage bill approved in R.I.; state becomes 10th in nation to legalize
This is a summary. To read the whole story subscribe to BostonGlobe.com
PROVIDENCE — Before more than 1,000 ecstatic supporters, Governor Lincoln Chafee on Thursday signed legislation making Rhode Island the 10th stateto permit gays and lesbians to marry and establishing gay marriage as the law of land throughout New England.
“Today, we are making history,” Chafee told the crowd. “We are living up to the ideals of our founders.”
He also cast the bill in economic terms, saying vital new businesses want to come to places that reflect their values, “and now, Rhode Island does.”
Even as gay couples won the right to marry in neighboring states over the past decade, the political and religious opposition in Rhode Island remained formidable, with bills repeatedly failing in the Legislature. Full story for BostonGlobe.com subscribers.
Mark Arsenault can be reached at marsenault@globe.com
