The Roman Catholic Diocese of
Providence is urging Rhode Island lawmakers not to approve a civil
unions bill.
On Wednesday, House Speaker Gordon Fox
announced an effort to make the state the sixth to legalize gay
marriage was dead. He cited insufficient support in the Senate as
reason to alter course toward civil unions.
State Representative Peter Petrarca is
expected to introduce a civil unions bill on Tuesday modeled after
similar laws recently approved in Illinois, Delaware and Hawaii.
Catholic Church leaders who objected to
the gay marriage bill are now refocusing their opposition to civil
unions.
“Proponents will undoubtedly argue
that civil unions are no threat to the institution of marriage. All
one has to do is look to the west to see that’s not the case. Last
year a federal judge ruled that California’s attempt to grant civil
union-like benefits to same-sex couples created a 'second-class
citizenship'– and he ordered same-sex marriage as the way to fix
the 'problem' – despite California’s state marriage amendment
which supposedly protected marriage. Currently Rhode Island law has
no marriage amendment and even if it did there is no guarantee that
it would deter activist judges from issuing a ruling in imitation of
the California courts,” Catholic
leaders wrote in an op-ed titled Civil
Unions Are Not The Answer
posted at the church's website.
(The decision handed down last year
declared California's gay marriage ban, Proposition 8,
unconstitutional. Plaintiffs were not challenging the state's
domestic partnerships law.)
“If legislators believe that the
object of providing equal benefits and protections with civil unions
will settle the issue for them, they are sadly wrong. Far from
settling the issue, the passage of civil union legislation only
advances the drive to same-sex marriage by framing the perception of
same-sex relationships as 'separate but equal.'”
“Government sanctioned civil unions
cannot be supported by those who truly understand the unique nature
and status afforded a man and a woman in marriage.”
The Catholic Church ends its editorial
by calling on lawmakers to abandon civil unions legislation in favor
of a constitutional amendment that bans gay marriage.