RHODE ISLAND: Gov. Lincoln Chafee Signs Civil Unions Bill Into Law

Against the vehement objections of some LGBT rights groups, today Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee signed his state's controversial civil unions bill into law.

The new law includes a section that says no religious organization -- including some hospitals, cemeteries, schools and community centers -- or its employees may be required to treat as valid any civil union, providing a religious exemption "of unparalleled and alarming scope," Chafee said in a statement. As a result, a civil union spouse could be denied the right to make medical decisions for his or her partner, access to health insurance benefits, property rights in adjoining burial plots or family memberships at some community centers. That could cause partners significant harm at critical moments in their lives, the governor said. "This extraordinary exemption eviscerates the important rights that enacting a civil union law was meant to guarantee for same sex couples in the first place," Chafee said.

RHODE ISLAND: Civil Unions Pass Senate

Last night Rhode Island's controversial civil unions bill passed in the state Senate by a vote of 21-16. The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who is expected to sign it over the protests of some major LGBT groups.

The legislation, which passed overwhelmingly in the state's lower house on May 19, affords same-sex couples a host of new state tax breaks, health-care benefits and greater ease of inheritance. Gov. Lincoln Chafee, an independent, is expected to sign the bill into law, according to his spokesman, Michael Trainor. If signed, the law would take effect on July 1, making Rhode Island the fifth state in the country to allow civil unions between same-sex couples.

RHODE ISLAND: Activists Demand Governor Veto Civil Unions Bill

Saying that Rhode Island's proposed civil unions bill will "allow religious organizations and their individual employees to completely disregard the validity of a civil union in any context," major LGBT activist groups are asking Gov. Lincoln Chafee to veto the act should it come to his desk. Via press release:

"This flawed civil union bill undermines a crucial principle that Rhode Island has always stood for -- respecting the separation of church and state,” said Marc Solomon, National Campaign Director for Freedom to Marry. “Not only does the bill propose a separate-and-unequal status instead of ending the denial of marriage itself, it grants an unprecedented license to discriminate against same-sex couples and their families. Governor Chafee should veto this defective bill and work with the legislature to enact a marriage bill that ends discrimination while preserving religious and personal freedom on equal terms for all.”

The letter, which was signed by groups including Freedom to Marry and GLAD, reads: This amendment could allow individuals, who are legally required to recognize everyone else’s legal commitments, to opt out of doing so only for gay and lesbian people. In practical terms, this law could allow religiously affiliated hospitals to deny a civil union spouse’s right to be by his spouse’s side and make medical decisions for him, and could allow religiously affiliated agencies to deny an employee’s right to leave in order to care for his civil union spouse under Rhode Island Family and Medical Leave.