By: Robin Murray-o'hair Re: Gay Rights/Religion GAY RIGHTS BILL PASSES DESPITE RELIGIOUS P

By: Robin Murray-o'hair
Re: Gay Rights/Religion

GAY RIGHTS BILL PASSES DESPITE RELIGIOUS PRESSURE

by Conrad Goeringer

     Groups like the Christian Coalition have another fight on
their hands, this time in Rhode Island. On May 19, the state
senate extended civil-rights guarantees to homosexuals after
extensive lobbying and testimony from numerous gay and human
rights groups; the measure bars discrimination against gays in
employment, housing, public accommodations and credit. The
legislation into law makes Rhode Island the ninth state to extend
civil rights to gay men and women, and the first to do so in the
past two years. The vote in the Senate was 26 to 21.

     The bill was opposed by such groups as the Coalition to
Preserve Traditional Values, which said that the legislation
would "have the effect of trampling under foot the religious
rights of the individual to make choices of conscience concerning
homosexuality." The Roman Catholic church also opposed the
measure, Bishop Louis Gelineau saying that the bill may have
condoned or promoted homosexual behavior.


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