Last week, state Senators James Doyle (D-Pawtucket), Leonidas (Lou) Raptakis (D-Coventry, East Greenwich, West Greenwich) and Nick Kettle (R-Coventry, Foster, Scituate, West Greenwich) were among the co-sponsors of a bill that, if passed, would allow voters to decide whether same-sex marriage is legalized in Rhode Island.
But on Tuesday, Doyle and Raptakis and Wednesday, Kettle, all citing feedback from their constituents as their reasoning, requested that their names be removed fromS708, a Bill sponsored by Sen. Frank Ciccone, (D-Providence), seeking to amend the Rhode Island Constitution to include the definition of marriage as “the legally-recognized union of two people”, also stating that the “right of the people to marry shall not be denied on the basis of the gender of the parties.”
The so-called "compromise" bill would not only allow Rhode Islanders to vote for or against a constitutional amendment. It would also extend exemptions for religious institutions, (already included in the pro-marriage equality bill passed by the House of Representatives in January), to include organizations even superficially connected or supportive of a specific religious affiliation, as well as small business owners who choose not to provide goods or services for a marriage ceremony that violates their "religious beliefs".
Raptakis, who owns Venus Pizza in Coventry, told The Providence Journal that the exemptions and protections listed in the referendum were "overboard" and "embarrassing". "I would never discriminate against someone coming into my place of business," he said.
"I'm for the referendum and also for the same-sex marriage bill, but I do have concerns with the discrimination in its language, which is why I decided to remove my name from it," said Kettle. "I don't think that it's right to discriminate against anyone."
Doyle told the Journal that he would now support S38, a marriage equality bill nearly identical to the one passed by the House 51 to 19 in January, which is sponsored by openly gay Pawtucket Democrat, Sen. Donna Nesselbush.
Kettle also recently announced that he will vote yes on Nesselbush’s S38 bill if it is considered by the full Senate after hearing from thousands of his constituents who are in favor of the measure.
Rhode Islanders United for Marriage offered the following statement Tuesday in response to the news that Senators Raptakis and Doyle have asked that their names be removed as sponsors of S708.
“We thank Senator Raptakis and Senator Doyle for their decision to remove their names from the proposed referendum legislation. This is further demonstration that S708 is not an ‘eminently reasonable’ solution to the question of allowing all loving, committed couples the freedom to marry the person they love,” said Ray Sullivan, campaign director for Rhode Islanders United for Marriage. “Since the bill was filed last week, thousands of Rhode Islanders have reached out to their senators, and told them a divisive and harmful referendum was neither a solution nor a compromise. Senators Raptakis and Doyle heard the message and stood up for their constituents.”
On Wednesday night, the organization applauded Kettle for doing the same.
"We thank Senator Kettle for removing his name from the referendum bill, and taking a stand against this dangerous bill that would roll back our state's anti-discrimination legislation," said Sullivan.
The Senators made their announcements just days before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider both bills in hearings on Thursday. As he is a member of the Judiciary Committee, a favorable vote from Raptakis could likely move the legislation onto the full Senate floor, based on previously stated assenting commitments of five fellow Committee members.
The Judiciary Committee is not expected to take a vote on either bill during Thursday’s hearing.