As soon as Judi and Lee McNeil-Beckwith got word that the Rhode Island attorney general believes the state would recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, they cried, hugged, and excitedly called friends and family. Then they jumped in the car.
"We've wanted to get married, but we didn't want an empty piece of paper. We needed the attorney general on our side," Lee, 40, said Monday evening, just hours after returning from Worcester, Mass., where she and Judi, her partner of seven years, applied for a marriage license.
"We just wanted to take the first step as soon as we could," said Judi, 52, holding a fresh bouquet of yellow daisies. The couple, who live in Providence, changed their names a few years ago when they bought a house together.
Rhode Island attorney general Patrick Lynch said that under his interpretation, the state would recognize any marriage legally performed in another state, as long as the marriage wasn't contrary to public policy.
http://www.advocate.com/new_news.asp?ID=12479&sd=05/19/04