Video: Groups For and Against Same-Sex Marriage Square Off at Contentious Rhode Island Marriage Equality Hearing

It was standing room only in Providence Rhode Island last night, as the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on a marriage equality bill.

Watch videos, AFTER THE JUMP...

The AP:

Chairs in the Senate committee room filled up hours early. Opponents and supporters lined hallways outside with capitol police officers standing by. Opponents of gay marriage standing outside had to be quieted after loudly chanting "one man, one woman."

"Marriage between one man and one woman is more sacred than anything," said Roy Gustafson, a Warwick auto body technician who took time off work to protest the legislation. "We're being bullied into this by states like Massachusetts. Rhode Island should stand up and say we're not going to do it."

And from the Providence Journal, the story of a cancer patient who testified last night:

On Thursday night, accompanied by her wife, Deborah Tevyaw, whom she married in Massachusetts, Baker testified at a Senate hearing.

“Every American is entitled to their civil rights under our Constitution. And it’s Rhode Island’s time to do the right thing,” Baker said. “I don’t feel any Rhode Islander wants to see another deprived of their civil rights. I hope I live to see this dream come true.”

Baker, a 51-year-old correctional officer, was never a gay-rights activist. But after doctors diagnosed her with incurable lung cancer in December, she got an added jolt. The federal Defense of Marriage Act [currently under legal challenge] precludes Tevyaw from collecting the Social Security benefits Baker earned for a surviving spouse.

Legalizing same-sex marriage in Rhode Island will not change that for now.

Nonetheless, the discovery stunned Baker, leading her to embark on what may well be her first and last act of bravery in the name of marriage equality.

 Watch a report on last night's Rhode Island hearings which includes an interview with Baker, AFTER THE JUMP...

Watch: Providence Mayoral Candidate Belts One Out

Earlier this week, FOX Providence morning show The Rhode Show interviewed mayoral candidate Chris Young, and made the mistake of asking him what he does for fun. This host must have been valedictorian at Keeping a Straight Face school.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

UPDATE: Young proposed to his girlfriend during last night's debate, and earlier this year had to be escorted from another debate for refusing to remove a large statue of the Virgin Mary he had brought with him.

Watch: NOM Pastor Speaks in Tongues to Save Marriage from Gays

The National Organization for Marriage has a whole cast of characters to accompany them on their 23-city hate-a-palooza tour.

In addition to victims of imaginary bullying, they have Pastor Jay Stirnemann, who used his own special language in Providence, RI to ward off the evil gays who are destroying the world for wanting to get married.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

NOM President Tweets About Pro-Gay Activists At Rally in Providence

NOM parked their BP-filled tour bus by the steps of the Rhode Island state Capital in Providence this afternoon and participated in yet another lowly attended rally for their “One Man, One Woman’’ campaign. 

A couple of pro-gay activists stormed the NOM podium and NOM president Brian Brown, in his typical scaremongering and sensationalist way, tweeted pictures that he's tagged with overtly alarmist terminology, referring to the "militancy and incivility" of the counter protesters. Brown also tweeted a picture of a gay rights activist and has hilariously dubbed the man “The face of intolerance.” Funny, 'cause I thought this was the face of intolerance.
 
Brown also managed to contradict himself in two separate descriptions of how the the Rhode Island Capital police responded to the "militant" pro-gay protesters. He tweeted: "Protestors embarass themselves, cause. Storm our stage. Refuse to listen to Capitol police." But then in a post on the NOM site (visit it here if you dare), writes, "...I was physically surrounded by three people trying to shout me down as Capitol Police did nothing."

NOM president Brian Brown also tweeted that a rainbow flag-colored umbrella protest in Albany yesterday in Albany was the "Silliest. Protest. Ever."

More pictures of the two protests as well as a video clip, AFTER THE JUMP.

Rhode Island Marriage Equality Supporters Rally in Providence

Approximately 350 people rallied on Saturday at the Rhode Island State House calling for marriage equality: "Rhode Island is the only New England state that does not permit same-sex marriages. A bill allowing gay marriage has been proposed in the General Assembly but is not expected to pass this year. Similar legislation has died in past sessions amid opposition from legislative leaders and Republican Gov. Don Carcieri. That is expected to change since most of the Democrats looking to succeed Carcieri in 2011 support gay marriage and some potential Republican candidates also support civil unions, Kathy Kushnir, the executive director of Marriage Equality Rhode Island, said."

A recent poll showed that 60 percent of registered voters in Rhode Island would support a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry.

Ken Fish, a gay rights activist and retired state education officia, slammed Democratic Speaker William J. Murphy for refusing to let party members vote their conscience. He also criticized openly gay House Majority Leader for being cowardly: “Many of us were proud when Gordon Fox became Democratic majority leader. Many of us were proud when Gordon Fox came out. But Gordon Fox is part of the problem. When Gordon Fox goes along to get along, he drags us with him."

According to the Providence Journal, "State Rep. Frank Ferri, D-Warwick, a chief backer of the same-sex marriage bill, said 36 House members have signed on as co-sponsors, including 10 of the 15 members of the House Judiciary Committee, where the bill has been 'held for further study.'"

Fish also criticized Catholics: "At the rally Saturday, meanwhile, Fish castigated what he said was the undue negative influence of the Catholic Church on key legislators. Civil marriage of same-sex couples 'does nothing to change the Catholic Church' but would merely enable other denominations, already willing, to marry them legally, Fish said."

The Christian Broadcast Network is planning a story on the Rhode Island marriage debate, reports the Journal: "After poking around a bit, we discovered that CBN, which provides programming to stations in about 200 countries (in addition to a 24-hour “prayer line,” according to its Web site), also interviewed Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin; the Rev. Bernard Healey, a lobbyist for the Providence diocese, and Governor Carcieri, an opponent of gay marriage, among others. The governor’s press office did not note the interview on Carcieri’s daily schedule."

Carcieri is vehemently against marriage equality. Earlier this year he joined the National Organization for Marriage and appeared at one of its rallies.

Two NECN reports on the rally, AFTER THE JUMP...

'Traditionalist' Rhode Island Gov Joins Anti-Gay Marriage Campaign

The  anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (who are behind the hideous ad I posted earlier) have gone into high gear with an arsenal of robo-calls and campaigns across New England. This morning in Providence, Rhode Island, they held a launch for its new anti-gay campaign attended by the state's governor, WPRI reports:

"A group against gay marriage has a very prominent politician in its corner. Gov. Donald Carcieri and his wife, Sue, joined the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Organization for Marriage Wednesday morning at the State House as it launched its new media campaign. The campaign, which supports marriage between a man and a woman, will run in several states. It's being launched just as Rhode Island's General Assembly is about to consider legislation that would allow same-sex couples married in another state get divorced in Rhode Island. During the news conference, Carcieri called himself a 'traditionalist' and said the best upbringing for a child is in a home with a mother and father. He said he is not anti-gay, rather he believes the issue should be decided by voters, and not by courts or legislators."