Gay Rights Laws Spark Talk of Constitutional Amendment

AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

First, gay marriage in New York. Now, civil unions in Rhode Island.

On a vote of 21-16, the Rhode Island state Senate on Wednesday approved legislation sponsored by Rep. Peter J. Petrarca to allow civil unions for same-sex couples there. In May, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the bill on a vote of 62-11.

The civil union legislation grants legal rights to same-sex partners without the historical and religious meaning associated with the word “marriage.” The measure now heads to the governor for consideration.

“I am very proud of my colleagues in the General Assembly for recognizing that this is the right piece of legislation at the right time,” said Representative Petrarca, who supports same-sex marriage. “We have made great progress in our goal of providing increased rights, benefits and protections for gay and lesbian couples. This bill is a step forward to ensuring equality and improving their quality of life.”

Petrarca’s comments signal that he is not willing to stop pushing the gay rights envelope at civil unions in Rhode Island. In response to the onslaught against biblical marriage between a man and a woman, Christian leaders are calling for repentance and prayer—and action by working to amend the U.S. Constitution.

“Whether by judicial activism or backroom politics, homosexual activists continue to attack and redefine natural and God-given notions of family and marriage. Just as counterfeit currency weakens the real dollar, giving same-sex relationships the status of ‘marriage’ counterfeits and devalues real marriage between a man and a woman,” says Roy Moore, former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and president of the Foundation for Moral Law.

“This is a nationwide movement to destroy marriage itself by divorcing it from all its biblical, moral, and historical foundations,” Moore continues. “In no state of the Union have the people ever sanctioned by popular vote same-sex marriage. An Amendment to the U.S. Constitution declaring marriage between one man and one woman would pass the legislatures of at least three quarters of the states, as required, and could become the 28th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”