It looks like Connecticut is trying to get ahead of us, but there’s still an opportunity to cash in on the passing of Proposition 8 in California.
It’s a setback for fairness, yes. And I’m sorry about California, but it’s an ill wind blows nobody good. In other words, we have to make the best of it.
Rhode Island with its beautiful coastline, excess of hotels, and growing tourism industry is right in position to become a wedding destination. The Governor should sign an executive order right now, before it snows.
Not only will marriage equality bring in out of state couples to spend money here, it will put pressure on Rhode Islanders to make it legal. Lots of tux rental dollars generated. And gay people are well-represented in fashion and entertainment. That means there could be a fad for being married in the smallest state. We could be like Vegas, only more Catholic and chillier and darker and more pessimistic. At least we have Waterfire.
We’re already doing the organized gambling thing, and every time some casino owner comes around we go for it. Gambling has documented social costs. Gay marriage is alleged to be a threat to straight marriage but where is the evidence? Who do you know who picked up the ‘Weddings and Celebrations’ section of the New York Times and turned to their loving spouse and said, “That’s it, I want a divorce! Two guys named Brad just got married.�
No, we marriage veterans know that there are reasons far more immediate to call a lawyer. On a bad day, one might say, “Let ‘em marry–that’ll show ‘em.�
But divorce lawyers are people too, and they need to work for a living. Inevitably there will be a market for gay divorce services. We might as well make the best of that, too.
Please consider this, Governor Carcieri. You’re not afraid to be bold when cutting children’s health insurance. Write that executive order today. Don’t let Massachusetts and Connecticut get all the tourists this summer.
November 13, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Are there any states that will allow me to marry my sister?
We are in love and feel RI, may not have been our best
choice.
November 14, 2008 at 8:53 am
Jim, you’re using the ‘absurd’ argument, which is not an argument at all. I can’t marry my computer, even though he’s named ‘HAL’.
I value marriage, and appreciate the benefit of being able to marry legally. Why would I deny a committed couple the right to marry on the same basis because they are a same-sex couple? It’s a legal contract. It’s a civil right.
I speak as one whose marriage would have been invalid in some states before ‘Loving v Virginia’. And Mildred Loving supported marriage equality.
November 14, 2008 at 9:35 am
Nancy, Why would you dismiss Jim’s right to marry his sister. They’re in love and it sure sounds as if Jim values marriage, and would appreciate the benefit of being able to marry his sister legally.
November 14, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Jim and Traveling Man,
You can marry your respective sisters in Arkansas!
November 14, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Don’t they already have a legal relationship? Family is recognized. If Jim was in the hospital his sister would be able to visit him as family. If he had no one else to make decisions for him, she would have legal standing as his sister.
Marriage is a legal relationship that lets two unrelated adults who are not already married to someone else become spouses. They have the rights and responsiblities of family to one another.
It seems unfair to deny that right to same sex couples, especially when their opponents are lusting to marry their sisters. But there is a biblical precedent for that, actually. we might not want to take the bible literally, especially Leviticus, or we’re all in trouble.