Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee enthusiastically signed gay marriage into law at a  statehouse ceremony Thursday evening (2 May).

Now all of the New England states allow gay marriage. The first weddings in Rhode Island could occur on 1 August when the new law will take effect.

Chafee was surrounded by hundreds of supporters of the legislation as he signed the bill. After doing so, he gave a thumbs up to the cheering crowd.

Rhode Island is set to become the 10th state to legalize same-sex marriage today (2 May).

While it is the last holdout among the other five New England states, the heavily Catholic state will join its neighbors when Governor Lincoln Chafee signs the bill into law at 6pm EDT.

The first weddings could occur on 1 August when the new law will take effect.

Same-sex marriage supporters renewed their fight to get it legalized this year, and the recent Senate vote was seen as the final test after the House easily passed the bill.

The state senate in Rhode Island has passed a bill that will make their state the 10th in the US to allow gay marriage.

In a 26-12 vote Wednesday (24 April), the Democratic controlled senate passed a bill that had made it out of the judiciary committee just a day earlier.

Rhode Island had been the only New England state where gay marriage is not yet legal. Governor Lincoln Chafee says he plans to sign the bill into law.

In a statement after the vote, Chafee said the senators has chosen 'tolerance and fairness over division and discrimination.'

The Rhode Island Senate's judiciary committee voted 7-4 today to send a marriage equality vote forward to the full senate for a vote that could happen as early as Wednesday (24 April).

Rhode Island is the only New England state where gay marriage is not yet legal. Governor Lincoln Chafee has made clear he will sign the bill into law if it passes the senate.

The Rhode Island House of Representatives passed a marriage equality bill on Thursday (24 January) bringing the tiny New England state one step closer to legalizing gay marriage.

The House easily passed the legislation by a vote of 51-19 but it now faces what is expected to be a much tougher battle in the State Senate.

It will next face a Senate committee which must vote in favor of the bill being sent before the full Senate for a vote.

Governor Lincoln Chafee will sign the bill into law if it also passes the senate.

The Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday (23 January) unanimously voted to send legislation to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry  to the full House of Representatives.

The 11-0 vote is the first legislative hurdle in making Rhode Island the tenth state in the US to legalize same-sex marriage.

Rhode Islanders United for Marriage campaign director Ray Sullivan called the vote 'historic' and 'affirmative.'

Rhode Island’s House Judiciary Committee will vote on legislation to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry today (22 January).

The full House of Representatives could take up the bill later in the week if the committee votes to send it to the floor.

The state’s lawmakers, a majority of Democrats, are expected to pass the measure. However gay rights activists say they are less confident about the Senate.

If the bill passes, the proposal would legalize marriage equality as well as recognize the already legal same-sex civil unions as marriages.

Rhode Island is the only New England state in the US that has not yet made gay marriage legal.

But that may change as the state's House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a Tuesday (22 January) vote on a marriage equality measure that would allow gay and lesbian couples to marry in the geographically smallest US state.

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee on Monday ((14 May) signed an order which requires the state to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere even though the state itself does not have marriage equality.

Chafee's action entitles same-sex couples to the same benefits as straight couples including health insurance, life insurance and being able to list the names of both parents on a birth certificate.