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Case of the Month Profiles 1980 Rhode Island Prom Case
June, 2008 -- GLAD’s 30th Anniversary Podcast series tells stories from 30 years of LGBT legal history, in the voices of the history-makers themselves.
In our current episode, Tuxedoes for Two: Fricke v. Lynch, Cumberland, Rhode Island native Aaron Fricke tells the story of how, with GLAD’s help in 1980, he fought successfully for the right to take a male date to his senior prom.
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Timeline: GLAD in Rhode Island
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Rhode Island Court Blocks Couple's Divorce
December 7, 2007 -- The Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled today that the state's Family Court does not have jurisdiction to recognize a same-sex couple's Massachusetts marriage for the purpose of granting them a divorce.
Read the decision
GLAD's statement on the decision
Read the Associated Press Story
Read GLAD's and other amicus briefs submitted in this case
Read the Providence Journal story
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Celebrating one year of equal marriage in Rhode Island!
September 29th was the first anniversary of equal marriage in Rhode Island!
That's right - one year ago, the Massachusetts border opened to Rhode Island same-sex couples seeking to marry.
To celebrate, and to help build support for equal marriage in the Ocean State, GLAD, Marriage Equality Rhode Island, and MassEquality coordinated a special anniversary photo session on the State House steps, to show our friends and neighbors just how many married same-sex couples are living right now in Rhode Island.
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Legislative Session Ends With Little Action On Legal Protections
June 28, 2007 -- The Rhode Island legislative session came to an end with little action taken on GLAD and Marriage Equality Rhode Island's platfrom of legislation to create legal protections to lesbian and gay couples.
Visit Marriage Equality Rhode Island for more information
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Strong Turnout in Favor of Equality at Senate Hearing
 May 11 , 2007 -- A Rhode Island Senate hearing last night brought out strong support for marriage equality, with 36 people testifying in favor of GLAD and Marriage Equality Rhode Island’s slate of bills creating legal protections for same-sex couples(link to story below on page), and only 3 opposed. A House hearing on the bills is scheduled for May 16.
Visit Marriage Equality Rhode Island for more information
Read the Pawtucket Times/Woonsocket Callarticle on the hearing
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GLAD Attorney Offers Guidance on Benefits for Employees with Same-Sex Spouses
 March 28, 2007 -- GLAD Staff Attorney Karen Loewy spoke recently with Rhode Island Lawyer’s Weeklyabout consulting with Rhode Island employers on providing benefits to their employees with same-sex spouses.
Read the interview here.
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GLAD Supports Protections for Rhode Island Couples
 March 2007 --GLAD is working with Marriage Equality Rhode Island (MERI) to advance an affirmative marriage equality bill during the 2007 legislative session. The bill was drafted by GLAD attorney Karen Loewy.
GLAD and MERI are also working to build a set of legal protections for same-sex couples through new legislation being introduced this session:
- Testimonial Privilege- would provide domestic partners with the same privileges as spouses to not testify against one another in court.
- Family Medical Leave- would allow domestic partners the same rights as married couples to take unpaid leave to care for one another - or a partner's parents or child - in cases of serious illness.
- Funeral Planning- would consider domestic partners as next of kin for the purposes of making funeral arrangements and decision about a deceased partner's remains.
- Nursing Home Visitations- would allow domestic partners the same rights to private visitation as married couples, and would allow domestic partners who live in the same nursing home to share a room.
- Pension Transfer- would allow state employees to name a domestic partner as a beneficiary of a state pension after their death.
- Wrongful Death- would allow domestic partners to have standing to sue for loss of consortium in cases of wrongful death.
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Rhode Island Attorney General Says State Will Recognize Same-Sex Marriages
 February 21, 2007 -- In response to a request from the state’s Commissioner of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch issued a six-page legal opinion saying that the state will recognize marriages between couples of the same sex performed in Massachusetts.
Read the Attorney General's Statement
Read GLAD's press release
Read the Cote-WhitacreCase Documents
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GLAD Foresees Marriage Respect in Rhode Island after Trial Court's Decision Allowing Same-Sex Couples to Wed in Massachusetts
 Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) hailed as another step toward marriage equality a Massachusetts trial court decision that allows same-sex couples from Rhode Island to marry in Massachusetts.
GLAD Attorney Michele Granda, who represented Rhode Islanders Wendy Becker and Mary Norton, said, "While definitive legal recognition of same-sex couples' marriages will ultimately come from the Rhode Island legislature or courts, we have every reason to believe that valid marriages performed in Massachusetts will be respected in Rhode Island once couples return home. Fair-minded Rhode Island employers, schools, and government agencies have been respecting the marriages of same-sex couples for two years now and we fully expect this to continue in light of this decision."
Rhode Islanders who are thinking about marrying in Massachusetts should consult Marriage Guide for Rhode Island Couplesor to contact GLAD's Legal InfoLine at 1-800-455-GLAD.
Read the Decision
Read GLAD's Press Release
Read the Case Documents
Read the Providence Journalarticle |
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