This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Gay marriages may not be performed in Rhode Island. But now, due to an executive order by Gov. Lincoln Chafee, an independent, all state agencies must recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, including the two on its borders — Massachusetts and Connecticut.
With New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, the Northeast is a hotbed for gay marriages. As married gays move out of that highly populated region and around the country with their families, more and more empathetic people in other states will sense the injustice in denying them rights that they once enjoyed.
It must be especially hard on children to learn that their parents are no longer married. I hope that even in Utah, each partner in a same-sex marriage who was legally married in another state but is now unmarried still will have full parental rights for their children.
In contrast to Mormon Utah, Mitt Romney supports allowing same-sex couples to adopt. In granting that right, he implicitly recognizes the validity of the couple. So why not support the family that adoption creates by recognizing the marriage?
In the long run, a total ban on recognizing gay marriages is just not sustainable in our mobile nation.
Leo Whiting
Salt Lake City