JackDawson alert: Gov. Chafee issued a written statement in support of same-sex marriage to the House Judiciary Committee yesterday.
Posted by
TFox
Feb 10 '11, 08:54
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In a written statement to the committee, Governor Chafee said: �I support the Marriage Equality Act as a matter of fundamental fairness.
�In 1967, the United States Supreme Court held that �the freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.� Today, same-sex couples � loving, productive and valued members of our community � are not free to exercise this right in Rhode Island. They are not free to form a public social contract that all agree promotes family stability and provides social, financial and legal benefits to its participants.
�This is not acceptable to me and should not be acceptable to anyone else. When we deprive gay and lesbian Rhode Islanders of the freedom to marry, we not only deny them a fundamental right guaranteed by our Constitution, we also diminish the freedom and liberty of all Rhode Islanders,� Chafee wrote.
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