Watson: Civil unions, not gay marriage, could pass
April 15th, 2011 at 11:08 am by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes
House Minority Leader Bob Watson says he thinks lawmakers should approve civil unions for same-sex couples amid uncertain prospects for legalizing gay marriage outright.
“I support that as an alternative that I believe has enough support in the General Assembly to pass and become law this year,” Watson said Friday morning during a taping of WPRI 12′s “Newsmakers.”
The East Greenwich Republican defended his opposition to gay marriage, brushing aside arguments about civil rights while citing the importance of maintaining the traditional definition of the word “marriage.”
“I happen to believe in the power of the word ‘marriage,’ and I believe it has a historical connection, and I believe that currently our current political environment is such that I think the public would be more supportive of civil unions, and I support that, as well,” Watson said.
Watson also discussed a sharp exchange he had on the House floor earlier this week with Speaker Gordon Fox – a riveting video of which will air as part of the “Newsmakers” episode – after the GOP leader called for a quick vote on gay marriage so attention could shift to the budget; the speaker had his microphone turned off.
“I don’t like it when they turn my microphone off, and I also don’t like it when we keep secrets in that building,” Watson said of the Statehouse. “There’s no reason why we can’t discuss the travel and the tracking of the gay marriage bill. It is a distracting issue. It’s been a preoccupation throughout the course of the session, and I just hoped and expected when we came back off of April vacation we would be focused on the budget exclusively.”
Watson also discussed whether lawmakers are still likely to increase sales tax revenue; the prospects for further pension changes; how the budget could be balanced exclusively with social-service spending cuts; and the need for more oversight of legislative staff pay.
I jumped in for the second half of the show to discuss pensions and my Chafee interview with Tim White, Ian Donnis and Arlene Violet. The full episode will be posted online today and air at 10 a.m. Sunday on Fox Providence.
Tags: budget, fy2012, gay marriage, general assembly, gordon fox, house, lawmakers, legislature, newsmakers, robert watson, sales tax, state government, statehouse
Nesi's Notes covers politics and the economy in and around Rhode Island for WPRI.com. (Twitter: 
While Rep Watson is right about marriage, he needs to realize that civil unions is like the gateway drug to eventual full-blown gay marriage. Neither should be approved.
NO its the gateway to people being able to accept and respect gay people as part of gods creation.
And then we will do the right thing.
Two letters give you away SC. Whats the matter – no [n-words) to demonize so you find a new victim.
[...] Ted Nesi has more on Watson and his appearance on Newsmakers, including his belief that a bill for civil unions has enough support to make it out of the House. from → Uncategorized ← McKay unsure on GOP’s candidate against Whitehouse LikeBe the first to like this post. No comments yet [...]
[...] GOP’s Watson: Civil unions could pass, but gay marriage [...]
Yes, Gilligan’s Island has to protect “Tradition Marriage” from it’s evil foes. Give me a break. White people need to get over themselves. Black people need to get over themselves. Straight people need to get over themselves. Let the Catholic Church get rid of all of those pedophiles they call preists, then they can tell me something about what God thinks about all of this.
While a significant majority -63 % of the catholic people support social justice and gays beign allowed civil marriage outside of the church, the hierarchy continues to live in the dark ages.
While the German born and brought up pope UNexcommunicates a Bishop williamson, who is a holocaust denier.
Benedict needs the money of Williamsons 600000 sick followers to pay off the victims of the endless hidden molestation of children.
A molestation that came from the church forbidding priests to marry, while the church live sin the dark ages of sexual ignorance Back about 1100 the church forbade priests from marrying. To gain more control over their lives and to insure that the priests property went to the church and not his family.
So the priests got their satisfaction from the handiest victimes they could intimidate if the kids ratted the priestss out.
[...] Full Story from WPRI [...]
That’s right Rep Watson. Stand behind the power of the word “marriage”. Good enough for everyone except gay people. That’s real civil of you.
Gays, as best can be found, seem to have stable relationships when married or civil unioned.
The people destroying marriage are the very ones who are str8 and married.
50% of str8 marriages failing. means prob 75% of str8 marriages have BFs or GFs on the outside.
Dont we for many reasons owe it to our gay friends and neighbors to help stablilze their relationships, as well as show up us str8 people and set an example of what marriage is supposed to be about – love and committment ,
till death do us part
Watson may be right re CUs being passable, and as a republican I salute him for trying to do the right thing, if not the perfect thing.
[...] Rhode Island House Minority Leader Suggests Civil Unions Instead of Marriage Equality. Read more [...]
[...] of view on the House floor, however, Speaker Gordon Fox had his microphone shut off. Leader Watson commented later: “I don’t like it when they turn my microphone off, and I also don’t like it when we [...]