Same Sex Marriage Vote: 'We Can't Deny Those Rights'

My husband and I were too emotional right after the Senate vote to do much of anything but cry (well, that was mostly me) and hug each other. 

Five years ago, I wrote to a local paper asking how thinking, decent people could deny basic rights to my son who is gay. My question certainly wasn't extraordinary – for decades, civil rights advocates had been asking the same thing regarding all of Rhode Island's gay citizens.

Today, the Rhode Island Senate answered: we can't deny those rights. It was both gratifying and humbling to witness, with this afternoon's Senate approval of same gender marriage, the bipartisan recognition of the principles on which our country and state were founded. The vote today revealed crisp, logical thinking and courage on the part of many local senators, including Senator Hodgson and Senator Raptakis. 

I thank God for those who fought for years to make this state a place that finally recognizes my son Jackson's human dignity. I thank God for those who protect our constitution and understand that it guarantees room for both religious freedom and individual liberty. And I thank God for those legislators who see that equality, by definition, cannot belong to only some of us. Now, if he chooses, my son won't have a civil union ceremony or a fake commitment ceremony in his home state. What were those things, anyway? He'll have a marriage. In sickness and in health, in good times and in bad. As long as they both shall live.

Thank you, Rhode Island. 

Karen L. Izzo of North Kingstown is the former co-president of PFLAG South/Central R.I. and former advisor to the Gay-Straight Alliance at East Greenwich High School.