January 7, 2011
New RI governor calls for gay marriage
Kevin Mark Kline READ TIME: 1 MIN.
The newly-elected governor of Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee, during his inauguration urged state lawmakers to legalize same-sex marriage.
"When marriage equality is the law in Rhode Island, we honour our forefathers who risked their lives and fortune in the pursuit of human equality," Chafee said in his inauguration speech Tuesday, Jan. 4. "Rhode Island today must be as welcoming to all as [founder] Roger Williams intended it to be."
Chaffee said that marriage equality and pro-immigration reforms "will do more for economic growth in our state than any economic development loan."
Same-sex marriage is legal in all New England states except for Rhode Island and Maine.
