Gov. Lincoln Chafee '75 P'14 signed a bill July 2 allowing gay couples in Rhode Island to enter into civil unions. According to a recent report by the Rhode Island American Civil Liberties Union, only 46 couples have taken advantage of this legislation since its enactment six months ago. We believe the reason for this low number is the Corvese amendment. Added to the bill at the last minute, this amendment allows any religious organization to not "treat as valid any civil union." Chafee himself admitted that this religious exemption "eviscerates the important rights that enacting a civil union law was meant to guarantee for same-sex couples in the first place." We agree with this statement and believe that the current civil union law classifies gay couples as second-class citizens. This is not an acceptable compromise.
Rhode Island's numbers in terms of civil unions are low even in comparison to states with similar populations. In Delaware, 85 civil union licenses were issued in the first month after the legislation passed, and in Hawaii, 106 civil union licenses were issued in the first month alone. Rhode Island, on the other hand, saw only seven couples obtain civil union licenses in November and December combined.
We see no other reason for this discrepancy other than the Corvese amendment. The implications of this amendment are numerous — Chafee noted that a person in a civil union in Rhode Island "could be denied the right to make medical decisions for his or her partner, denied access to health insurance benefits, denied property rights in adjoining burial plots or denied family memberships at religiously-affiliated community centers." These are crucial rights that heterosexual couples automatically receive, and to allow those rights to be denied to gay couples for any reason is unjust. By shunning this law, the Rhode Island gay community has shown it will not legitimize a discriminatory concession to true first-class citizenship.
Though we recognize that Rhode Island at least attempted to take a step in the right direction — most other states still do not recognize same-sex marriage in any way — the Corvese amendment ensures that gay relationships in the state are constantly vulnerable to being rendered null and void. In some cases, as with the right to make medical decisions for one's partner, this can literally be an issue of life and death. Furthermore, this amendment protects individual employees, meaning that even if the administration of a hospital decides to treat a gay man or woman, an individual nurse or doctor cannot be fired for refusing to perform their duties. We believe that religious beliefs should not exempt anyone from legal obligations.
Particularly now that Washington recently enacted a gay marriage law — and Maryland's governor is slated to sign such a bill into law this week — and four of the five other New England states recognize gay marriage, we strongly believe that Rhode Island is behind the times and should catch up to its peers. The state's current civil union legislation is inadequate, offensive and, for good reason, undesired by the very citizens it was intended to benefit. The gay couples in Rhode Island and elsewhere throughout the nation deserve full access to marriage and the benefits and rights that come with it.
Editorials are written by The Herald's editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
