Marriage Equality Rhode Island

Holly Bezak
of Wakefield, Rhode Island

I believe in Marriage Equality because denying anyone the right to marry is denying their status as a United States citizen as well as a human being.

Becky Brewster
of Barrington, Rhode Island

I believe in Marriage Equality because my partner and I have been together for five years, we own a home together in Barrington and our lives are much the same as our heterosexual coupled neighbors. Yet we don't have the same rights as they do. We're tired of feeling like second class citizens. It's a matter of civil rights. The inequality created by denying gay couples marriage rights must end in our state and eventually on the federal level. RI is a great place to be gay. We've always been out to our friends, family, and neighbors. So why not marriage for us? It's shameful that we're not there yet.

Gina Furtado
of Bradford, Rhode Island

I believe in Marriage Equality because love cannot be controlled by the government. If two people of the same sex wish to make a legally binding commitment to each other to be monogamous, they should be allowed to. The refusal to recognize a marriage in any form is unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court decided in Loving v. Virginia that bans against interracial marriage violated the Constitution. The same can be said for bans against same-sex marriage. I hope that one day, my homosexual friends and family members will be allowed to marry their partners in Rhode Island and across the United States.

Joyce Anderle
of Coventry, Rhode Island

Member of the MERI Board of Directors since June, 2008. High school administrator and professional educator. Resident of Rhode Island since 2000. "Education is the key to success...for all people,,,for obtaining equality for all....for supporting each other by any means necessary,,,for the equitable resolution of problems...for providing important supports for all....and for making this a better world in which to live."

Susan Heroux
of Coventry, Rhode Island

I believe in Marriage Equality because marriage plays a fundamental role in our society and leaving out gay and lesbian Rhode Islanders is discrimination. Stacey and I have been together for 6.5 years and were married on the beach in Provincetown, MA, on August 2, 2007. We have a 13-year-old daughter and have been fighting for marriage equality since she was 7. Our wedding day was one of the best days of our lives and our marriage makes our family more secure, especially because we have a child we will do anything to protect - just like all parents. All we are asking is to be included so we can express our full humanity within our society and protect our family. Our marriage does not affect anyone else but provides us with a huge sense of belonging and security that is priceless to our family.

Eugene Dyszlewski
of Cranston, Rhode Island

I have a personal and pastoral commitment to equality. I believe that achieving same-gender marriage has a practical, as well as, symbolic value. It is a tremendous step in removing the social stigma from the GLBT community by normalizing their status in society. It should be done. It can be done. It will be done in Rhode Island.

Rich Hite
of Cranston, Rhode Island

My niece is gay and I became interested in this fight largely as a result of seeing the consequences of a relationship ending that she experienced – one that would have been a marriage if it had been legal.

Laura Pugliese
of cranston, Rhode Island

Lexie Ludovici
of Cumberland, Rhode Island

I believe in Marriage Equality because separate is not equal. Same-sex couples deserve the same rights, freedoms and protections that opposite-sex couples enjoy.

Karen Loewy
of Franklin, Massachusetts

I believe in Marriage Equality because all families deserve the protections and respect that only marriage can provide. So long as same-sex couples are denied equal access to marriage, they are denied equal rights of citizenship and full participation in civil society. I want my children to grow up in a world that does not discriminate against people for who they are and who they love, and I will continue to work to end this disenfranchisement until formal legal equality is the law of the land.