MERI Blog
Updates, news, action alerts and events from Marriage Equality Rhode Island.
MERI to Reed: 103 days is not ‘very shortly’
PROVIDENCE - Marriage Equality Rhode Island Campaign Director Ray Sullivan released the following statement today following a report from RINPR saying that Sen. Jack Reed is still unsure about whether to support a legislative effort to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act.
“While equality supporters certainly appreciate the ‘careful’ and ‘deliberative’ thought that Sen. Reed has devoted to the federal legislation that would repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, we would respectfully remind him that his inability to make a decision on this important civil rights issue is adversely impacting the lives of his constituents everyday.
It has been exactly 103 days since Sen. Reed said at a press conference that he would make a decision on this important bill ‘very shortly.’ Clearly, Washington politicians and Rhode Island families have very different understandings of what ‘very shortly’ means.
Sen. Reed is well-respected by leaders from both sides of the aisle, and his support now would lend significant momentum to the effort to end DOMA. Every other member of the Rhode Island Congressional delegation - Sen. Whitehouse, Rep. Langevin, and Rep. Cicilline - have signed on as co-sponsors, and we thank them for demonstrating leadership on this critical issue. It’s time Sen. Reed did the same.”
Voter ID
On Friday, on behalf of Marriage Equality Rhode Island, I submitted comments about the proposed Voter ID Rules and Regulations to the Rhode Island Secretary of State (RISOS). Because of the unique challenges faced by our community, the Voter ID law has the potential to disenfranchise a large number of LGBTQI Rhode Islanders. Our friends from Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless did a great job testifying about all of the problems homeless people have trying to get an ID, from not being able to obtain/provide supporting documentation due to the cost of that paperwork or from the very real logistical concerns related to life on the street. We should not forget that the LGBTQI community makes up a significant portion of those who are homeless, somewhere between 20-40% according to the Center for American Progress.
Our testimony focused on issues specific to our transgender and gender non-conforming community because we know that requiring photo ID can cause bureaucratic headaches and safety concerns for members of our community. We are continuing to work with the RISOS to make sure we are not disenfranchised in this process. The RISOS plans on posting the final rules by the end of today, Monday, December 12, 2011 because they have to be ready to issue IDs by the first day of business in 2012 (January 3, 2012). We’ll keep you posted on the finals rules and our next steps.
if you want to get involved!
Calling all students!
The legislative session is quickly approaching and we’re looking for local college and high school students to join our organizing team. We have a busy legislative agenda ahead of us and we want YOU to help us make history! Apply using the cover page and brochure. Please contact Dawn (401) 941-2727 with any questions.
Thank YOU & Happy Thanksgiving!
You did it! Thanks to you and thousands of other equality supporters, I’m happy to report this morning that MERI has won a $25,000 grant from the Chase Foundation. I’m also excited to tell you that the nine other organizations who were part of this year’s Equality Slate finished in the top 100, and qualified for some much-needed funding. Thank you for helping to make that happen.
As an organization, we have a lot to be thankful for this year. But most of all, we are thankful for you. Time and time again, you’ve stepped up and done what’s needed to be done to keep us moving forward, even when that hasn’t been easy. MERI is a movement that, at its’ core, is simply about love, family, respect and fundamental equality.
You are that movement, and this year, we are extremely grateful to have you in our corner. In the coming year, we’re going to take on some tough challenges, but these are fights worth fighting, and I know with your continued support, we will win.
From our family to yours, please accept our gratitude and best wishes for a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday.
MERI commends Sen. Whitehouse for committee vote to repeal DOMA
PROVIDENCE – Marriage Equality Rhode Island Campaign Director Ray Sullivan issued the following statement today after the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee passed a historic measure to end the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, with the help of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse:
“Today, Sen. Whitehouse showed us what real character and leadership look like. His unwavering commitment to equal rights and recognition for all American citizens was further buffeted this afternoon by his vote to pass the Respect for Marriage Act and moves America one step closer to bringing DOMA’s hurtful and harmful discrimination to a permanent end.
Equality supporters are grateful to Sen. Whitehouse as well as to Congressman Jim Langevin and Congressman David Cicilline for cosponsoring this important civil rights legislation,” Sullivan said.
Sen. Jack Reed is the only member of the Rhode Island delegation who has yet to announce whether he will support the Respect for Marriage Act. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, he voted in favor or passing DOMA in 1996.
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MERI, Coalition partners deliver hundreds of signatures to Senator Reed’s office
Today, Freedom to Marry, Courage Campaign, Marriage Equality Rhode Island and Ocean State Action will present Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island with a petition signed by hundreds of Rhode Island residents urging him to join his colleagues in signing onto the Respect for Marriage Act, the bill that would repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
“Recent census data show that Rhode Island is among the top ten states where gay and lesbian couples choose to build their lives together. These loving, committed couples and their families are harmed every day by the denial of marriage and by federal discrimination that treats them as strangers in the eyes of the law,” said Marc Solomon, National Campaign Director of Freedom to Marry. “We hope that Senator Reed will listen to the voices of his constituents and join us in ending federal marriage discrimination.”
The signatures were collected through an online campaign by the four groups. They represent a variety of constituents from Rhode Island, which passed civil union in June. Fewer than two dozen couples have since entered into civil unions in Rhode Island, which already honors the marriages of same-sex couples from other jurisdictions, but leaves these couples without federal protections because of DOMA. Senator Reed is currently the only member of the Rhode Island Congressional delegation who has yet to co-sponsor the Respect for Marriage Act. However, he stated at the end of September that he would come to a conclusion about the legislation “quickly,” and that he believed it was “a critical issue.”
“Senator Reed said he was listening to the Rhode Island people on this critical issue,“ said Kate Brock, executive director of Ocean State Action. “Rhode Islanders are speaking. Rhode Islanders believe in equality for our gay and lesbian neighbors and we support an end to this harmful and discriminatory law. We hope Senator Reed will heed the call of his constituents and come down on the side of equality for all Rhode Islanders.“
“The National Organization for Marriage in Rhode Island is desperate in their attempt to get anti-equality supporters to persuade Sen. Reed to vote against DOMA repeal,“ said Rick Jacobs, chair and founder of the 700,000 member Courage Campaign. “We are confident that Sen. Reed will join the rest of his state’s Democratic congressional delegation and support our effort to ensure Rhode Islanders are not treated as second-class citizens.“
The signatories signed onto a letter that reads:
Thousands of loving same-sex couples in Rhode Island have legally wed or plan to, and are committed to sharing their lives and building a family together. They need access to the same safety net and security that other families are afforded by the federal government. On behalf of the majority of Rhode Islanders who support the freedom to marry, we respectfully ask that you join your colleague, Senator Whitehouse, in co-sponsoring the Respect for Marriage Act.
For the full text of the letter, click here: http://freedomtomarry.org/SenatorReedLetter. The letters were delivered personally on Monday afternoon by several of the couples who participated in the petition.
“A growing majority of Rhode Islanders believe in marriage equality and recognize that it’s time to repeal DOMA,” said Ray Sullivan, campaign director of Marriage Equality Rhode Island. “Sen. Reed is well-respected by leaders on both sides of the aisle. His his support now for the Respect for Marriage Act would provide significant momentum to the effort to end the government-sanctioned discrimination that thousands of gay and lesbian couples in loving, committed relationships face on a daily basis. We look forward to the day when Sen. Reed will join Sen. Whitehouse, Rep. Langevin and Rep. Cicilline in supporting this important civil rights legislation.“
Freedom to Marry and Courage Campaign have been working with other statewide groups in similar efforts as part of a federal campaign to increase the number of sponsors in both the House of Representatives and the Senate for the Respect for Marriage Act. The organizations celebrated a significant victory after Senator Mikulski of Maryland signed on as a co-sponsor of the Act, following a campaign that garnered a petition with 3,000 signatures. There are now a record number of supporters in both the House, where the bill has 128 cosponsors, and in the Senate with 29 cosponsors. (The bill was introduced in March with 108 cosponsors in the House and 18 cosponsors in the Senate.) Currently, the groups are working on another campaign that aims for Senator Casey of Pennsylvania to announce his support as well.
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Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage nationwide. We are pursuing our Roadmap to Victory by working to win the freedom to marry in more states, grow the national majority for marriage, and end federal marriage discrimination. We partner with individuals and organizations across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage and the protections, responsibilities, and commitment that marriage brings.
Courage Campaign is a multi-issue online organizing network that empowers more than 700,000 grassroots and netroots supporters to work for progressive change and full equality in California and across the country.
Marriage Equality Rhode Island (MERI) is the only grassroots organization in Rhode Island whose mission is solely to achieve LGBTQI equality through policy change and works to secure equal marriage rights for all Rhode Island couples, regardless of sexual orientation or identity.
Ocean State Action is a coalition of community groups, environmental organizations, professional associations, and labor unions who have been fighting for social and economic justice for over two decades.
Continue Pat’s fight
You need to watch this video.
It’s a story about our friends Pat Baker and Deb Tevyaw, and how the so-called Defense of Marriage Act has adversly and unjustly impacted their lives. But it’s more than just an important story, it’s a critical call to action, and we really need your help today.
Sen. Jack Reed is the only member of Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation who has yet to support the Respect for Marriage Act - legislation that would put a permanent end to DOMA. This afternoon, MERI, Freedom to Marry, Courage Campaign and Ocean State Action sent a joint letter to Sen. Reed, and asked him to support this critical civil rights legislation.
Pat Baker spent the last months of her life fighting to pass this bill, it’s up to us now to pick up where she left off.
New report characterizes RI’s civil union law as a ‘bust, fiasco’
PROVIDENCE - Marriage Equality Rhode Island Campaign Director Ray Sullivan issued the following statement today after the Rhode Island ACLU released a new report outlining the dramatic shortfalls of the recently passed civil union legislation:
“This report affirms what marriage equality supporters have consistently said: Civil unions, and more specifically Rhode Island’s civil union law, amount to little more than second-class citizenship. It’s no surprise that so few gay and lesbian couples in loving, committed relationships have sought to enter into a civil union.
The overly-broad Corvese amendment, which allows religiously-affiliated hospitals, schools and other institutions to ignore the legal standing of a civil union spouse, is state-sanctioned discrimination, and repealing it will be among our top priorities in the next legislative session.
This flawed civil union legislation has only strengthened MERI’s argument stressing the need to pass marriage equality legislation now, and a majority of Rhode Islanders agree. All Rhode Islanders deserve equal rights, protection and recognition under the law and MERI will continue fighting to make that happen.
We commend the Rhode Island ACLU for its thoughtful and deliberative effort to report on this important civil rights issue,” Sullivan said.
MERI calls on Rep. Costa to disavow Sharron Angle’s bigoted positions on LGBTQ community
PROVIDENCE - Former US Senate candidate Sharron Angle’s anti-gay positions are well known throughout the country, and her expected appearance at a Tea Party rally in North Kingstown tomorrow has caused Marriage Equality Rhode Island (MERI) to call on State. Rep. Doreen Costa to disavow the event and rebuke Angle’s intolerance towards LGBTQ citizens. Costa, a first term Republican, is a recognized leader in the local Tea Party organization.
Costa is quoted in a GoLocalProv.com story from Monday characterizing Angle’s appearance as “exciting” and “a victory for our little state.”
In a letter sent to Costa today, MERI Board Chair Martha Holt urged the freshman lawmaker “to contact the Tea Party Express and Ms. Angle’s political organization and inform them that her discriminatory principles are not welcome in the Ocean State.”
Angle lost to Nevada Senator and Majority Leader Harry Reid in the last General Election while receiving significant support and funding from Tea Party organizations. She has stated in at least one candidate questionnaire that she opposes adding sexual orientation as a protected minority under existing civil rights laws. In addition, Ms. Angle supports barring same-sex couples from adopting and raising children. Like Rep. Costa, she opposes marriage equality.
Holt pointed to a number of current Rhode Island General Laws that were enacted to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. Based on her response to the “Government is Not God” PAC questionnaire, Angle would support repealing or dramatically altering many if not all of those provisions.
As to the adoption issue, Holt noted that there are almost 700 same-sex couples currently raising children in Rhode Island today, according the Williams Institute’s report on Rhode Island’s most recent census data. “Would Ms. Angle destroy these families solely based on the parent’s sexual orientation, a position that is as morally bankrupt as it is offensive,” Holt asked in her letter to Costa.
“I would hope that you would disavow any association with a group that, through its promoted speakers, endorses bigotry and intolerance towards LGBTQ Americans,” Holt wrote.
Hurricane Alert: Make sure you safeguard your legal documents
With the Ocean State preparing for this weekend’s anticipated arrival of Hurricane Irene, MERI is reminding all gay and lesbian couples in loving, committed relationships to take the necessary precautions to protect their important legal documents.
Specifically, couples should locate and safeguard documents such as:
- Wills
- Power of attorney
- Living will
- Healthcare power of attorney (HIPAA authorization)
- Funeral planning documents
- Any other authorizing documents
It’s unfortunate that LGBTQ couples have to take this extra step in an emergency situation, and that’s why we’re still fighting to make Rhode Island a place where all families are recognized and respected equally. If you have questions about emergency operations in your own community, please click here.
— recently posted —
MERI to Reed: 103 days is not ‘very shortly’
posted 3 weeks, 4 days, 23 hours, 55 minutes ago
— your neighbors —
Trisha Valcourt of Providence supports marriage equality. Meet Trisha and other real Rhode Islanders in our Friends & Neighbors gallery.
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