Brian Brown, president of the National
Organization for Marriage (NOM), on Wednesday criticized Rhode Island
lawmakers for approving a bill legalizing gay marriage in the state.
The measure cleared its final
legislative hurdle on Wednesday with a 26-12 vote in the Rhode Island
Senate which included the unanimous support of the chamber's GOP
caucus. Independent Governor Lincoln Chafee plans to sign the bill
into law following a procedural vote in the House next week.
Brown, whose group vociferously opposed
passage of the law, said that the Senate had failed its constituents
and that the law would hurt children.
(Related: Groups
applaud Rhode Island on gay marriage.)
“The Senate has abandoned society's
most important institution and put their constituents on a collision
course with the law,” said
Brown in a blog post. “Lawmakers have allowed themselves to be
fooled into thinking they have protected people of faith when in fact
they have put those who believe in true marriage in the crosshairs of
the law and gay 'marriage' activists. It won't be long before the
repercussions begin to be felt.”
“For the first time, the state of
Rhode Island is saying to its children they do not deserve both a
mother and a father, and are backing a law that is designed to
intentionally deprive some kids of either a mom or a dad. It's bad
enough when families break down through divorce or death, but it's
unconscionable when a state encourages this through policies that
deprive children of the love of both a mother and a father. This is a
very sad day for Rhode Island.”