The US state of Rhode Island has passed a bill which recognises same-sex civil unions, but which contains 
provisions protecting conscience and religious freedom.
Governor Lincoln Chafee, a former Republican US senator, signed the bill into law last weekend. The Irish Civil Partnership Act contained no such provisions.
The bill allows religious organisations, charities and individuals employed by such organisations to refuse to provide services or to recognise civil unions if this would “cause such organisations or individuals to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs”.
The provisions were welcomed by the President of the state senate of Rhode Island, Democrat M. Teresa Paiva-Weed, who said they represented a worthy compromise.
“We have moved one step in the right direction toward ensuring that individuals receive equal rights and protections under the law,” Ms. Paiva Weed, said before the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill on Wednesday afternoon.
The bill came after Gordon D. Fox, the openly gay speaker of the Democratic-controlled lower chamber, said he could not muster enough votes to pass a same-sex marriage bill.
Mr. Fox ultimately threw his support to civil unions, saying that was a more realistic goal.
Ms. Paiva Weed, who opposes same-sex marriage, said she did not expect the Legislature to vote on a same-sex marriage bill next year.
Advocates for same-sex marriage had had high hopes for success in Rhode Island this year as both the new governor, Lincoln D. Chafee, an independent, and Mr. Fox, who became speaker last year, had appeared eager to get a marriage bill passed.
However, the bill ran into significant opposition in the state Senate.
Those who wanted same-sex marriage say the bill is unacceptable because it allows religious organizations not to recognize the unions.
“It’s a permission slip to ignore legal obligations,” said Karen L. Loewy, a lawyer at Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, or GLAD.
Some opponents of same-sex marriage, including the Catholic Church, are also against the civil unions bill.
The bill grants same-sex couples most of the rights and benefits that Rhode Island provides married couples.
