#47: State Fight

On Thursday, May 2, 2013, at 5:45pm, Governor Lincoln Chafee picked up his pen and signed marriage equality into law for the state of Rhode Island. You might think it was inevitable. It wasn't. That signature was the fruit of a relentless 16-year campaign, culminating in the largest grassroots legislative mobilization Rhode Island had ever seen. On this episode of the Flaming Sword of Justice, you'll hear the inside story of how that war was waged and won: the lonely years when even getting a vote was a distant dream; the moment when victory seemed tantalizingly close, only to slip out of reach; and then the knock-down-drag-out fight that swept 15 legislators out of office and bombarded state legislators with dozens of phone calls every hour. In Rhode Island, the religious left went collar to collar with the right; organized labor drew a line in the sand... and, when all was said and done, tears rolled down the cheeks of parents and grandparents who could finally know that their kids would have the same marriage rights they did, no matter who they loved. It's all here. Tune in and then share this episode. This is a story that should be heard in every state... so that, sometime soon, the citizens of every state can tell a story just like it.