Rhode Island Senate Clears Path to Gay Marriage

By this summer, it should be legal for gay people to get married anywhere in New England. Rhode Island's senate today passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage by a vote of 26-12, making it all but certain that the state will become the sixth and final New England state to join the club, reports the Providence Journal. The legislation goes back to the House for what the AP calls a "largely procedural vote" and then onto the desk of Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who backs the measure. Rhode Island would become the 10th state to legalize gay marriage, with the first ones in the state taking place as early as Aug. 1. (Nevada might be next, while France and New Zealand recently put their laws on the books.)