Civil union licenses had been issued by the state of Rhode Island between July 1, 2011 and August 1, 2013. Civil unions supplied couples with virtually all of the rights and benefits of marriage underneath state regulation. On August 1, 2013, when the state began offering similar-sex marriage, it stopped offering civil unions, although it continues to acknowledge existing ones. Same-sex marriage has been legally acknowledged in Rhode Island since August 1, 2013. The state had authorized a restricted type of home partnerships from 2002 to 2011 and the formation of civil unions from 2011 until the state started recognizing same-intercourse marriages in 2013. Same-intercourse marriage legislation passed the House of Representatives on January 24, 2013. The Senate passed an amended model on April 24, 2013 by a 26-12 vote, which the House approved on May 2 by fifty six votes to 15. The invoice was signed into regulation by Governor Lincoln Chafee the same day, and took impact on August 1, with the first identical-intercourse marriages taking place that day. The bill was launched to the Rhode Island House of Representatives, however the Judiciary Committee defeated it.
