Part of the way in Rhode Island

JUST DAYS after Barack Obama's announcement that he personally supports same-sex marriage, Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee issued an executive order mandating that all state agencies "recognize the lawful marriages as valid for any purpose arising within the execution of its duties," and that each agency review its policies and statutes to ensure that they are inclusive to legally married same-sex couples.

According to Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Chafee's order will ensure that same-sex couples married out of state will be treated the same as heterosexual couples regarding employment benefits for state employees and for any insurance plan regulated by the state, public pensions, workers' compensation benefits, listing both parents on birth certificates, and social services provided by the state.

The order is firmly rooted in Rhode Island law. A 1904 law established that the state recognizes validly celebrated marriages performed elsewhere, and while Rhode Island does not have its own version of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), it does not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples either.

A legal opinion similar to Chafee's executive order was issued in 2007 by then-Attorney General Patrick Lynch, but it was a non-binding opinion, and there was therefore no single standard set--leaving all cases to be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Cases like that of Pat Baker and Deb Tevyaw, who were legally married in Massachusetts in 2005, when Pat, a corrections officer for 30 years, was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. She had to fight to quite literally her dying breath to get her affairs in order for her partner to get some survival benefits.

Or take the case of Margaret Chambers and Cassandra Ormiston, legally married in Massachusetts in 2004, who attempted to file for divorce in 2006. The case reached Superior Court justice Patricia Hurst, who ruled that since the statute that established the Family Court only recognizes marriage between a man and a woman, Rhode Island could not grant the divorce. Ormiston had to establish residency in Massachusetts for a year before she could file for divorce.

Or there's the case of Mark Goldburg and Ron Hanby. They were legally married in Connecticut, and when Hanby took his own life after a battle with depression, Goldburg was unable to claim his partner of 17 years' body for over a month so that he could plan his funeral. Although a bill was written to allow non-married domestic partners the right to plan each other's funeral arrangements, it was vetoed by then-Gov. Donald Carcieri. The veto was overridden.

WHILE CHAFEE'S executive order will go a long way toward establishing a precedent for treating same-sex partnerships with dignity and equality under state law, it still does not grant Rhode Island same-sex couples the right to obtain a marriage license in their own state.

A marriage equality bill has been introduced in the General Assembly every year since 1997, but has yet to be put up for a vote. In 2011, many activists thought that the question would finally be resolved, but instead it was marked by a shameful capitulation by state leaders that took marriage equality off the table and established civil unions with religious exemptions so broad that just about any institution run by a religious organization (including hospitals) can summarily ignore the legally sanctioned partnership.

The Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union called the civil union bill "the most discriminatory equality bill." This was rushed through the General Assembly and signed into law by the very same Lincoln Chafee. Activists, some of whom had fought for years for marriage equality, were not impressed; to date, only 52 Rhode Island couples have sought a civil union.

This year, testimony was heard from over 80 people in favor of marriage equality, but the judiciary committee has officially "held the bills for further study"--legislative-speak for "not gonna happen."

Marriage Equality RI (MERI) has stated that it expects to see marriage equality pass by 2013, but this should be seen as not soon enough. If Rhode Island can now recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages, there is no reason why Rhode Island couples shouldn't be able to file for marriage licenses in their own state.

On the federal level, there is no reason why Barack Obama's position shouldn't "evolve" to "fiercely advocate" the repeal of the federal DOMA. We must demand nothing less than full equality.