Rhode Islands Rising Star

Rhode Island may have a governor adamantly against same-sex marriage, but the state's house of representatives may soon get a gay speaker.

Gordon Fox, already serving as house majority leader, is poised to become the next speaker. The 48-year-old Democrat is the chosen successor of current house speaker William Murphy, who is expected to step down in the near future. If Fox is chosen as the speaker by his colleagues, he would be one of the most powerful politicians in the state.

The ardent supporter of same-sex marriage has represented the Summit and Blackstone neighborhoods of Providence since 1992, reports TheProvidence Journal (Rhode Island's Republican governor, Donald Carcieri, on the other hand, vetoed a bill in November that would have added domestic partners to the list of people authorized to make funeral arrangements for each other).

It remains unclear when Murphy will step down, but Fox tells the Journal that, regardless, "Balancing the budget and long-term education reform will be the biggest challenges of 2010."

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