The National Organization for Marriage
(NOM) and the Knights of Columbus are the leading groups behind a new
coalition working to derail a gay marriage bill in Rhode Island.
The Faith Alliance to Preserve the
Sanctity of Marriage as Established by God also includes
representatives from the Catholic Church and a number of Hispanic and
Latino church groups.
About 200 people joined the nascent
group at the State House rotunda on Tuesday afternoon as House
lawmakers were preparing to begin a public hearing on the bill.
“Marriage is a sacred covenant
between God, man and woman,” Rev. Luis Rodriguez, chairman of the
Faith Alliance and president of the Hispanic Ministerial Association,
said
in a statement. “It was the first covenant that God made with
man and woman. The Church and God-fearing people have been given the
charge to protect and preserve God's holy institution of marriage.”
“Unfortunately,
there is a tendency to logically or purposefully associate matters of
homosexuality with same sex marriage. While the former may be a
right of personal choice or innate sexual orientation, the latter is
a privilege ordained by God and administered by the state. Once this
distinction is clearly articulated through our collective efforts, we
are confident that the people of Rhode Island will strongly urge
their state legislators to hear the voice of the people,” he added.
At
a press conference on Monday, marriage equality supporters announced
Rhode Islanders United for Marriage.
(Related: Lincoln
Chafee urges Rhode Island lawmakers to approve gay marriage.)