Journal photo/ Kathy Borchers Governor Carcieri, with his wife, Sue, speaks at a State House press conference organized by a group that opposes same-sex marriage. Behind them is Ken Fish, 67, of Warwick, who supports the right for gay people to marry

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- On the day after Vermont lawmakers approved same-sex marriage, Rhode Island Governor Carcieri - and his wife, Sue - joined opponents at a State House press conference in supporting what they called the "bedrock of a community,'' the preservation of traditional marriage between a man and a woman.

Carcieri said he is not anti-gay, but does not believes this is a "civil rights issue,'' as argued by those urging the legislature here to allow same-sex marriage.

He said he believes children "prosper'' best in homes with a mother and a father. "I am a traditionalist,'' he said, and this is a "definitional issue'' that should be decided by voters, not legislatures or courts, as has happened in other states.

"Put it on the ballot,'' the governor said, as Christopher Plante, the state leader of the defense of marriage movement here voiced confidence, based on instinct, and not polling data, the proposal would go down in a referendum.

Plante said the issue has already had regrettable, real-life impact in Rhode Island where, he said, parents seeking to shield their children from teaching about homosexuality are being told that now that same-sex marriage is legal, it is a "normal'' part of the curriculum.

As a mother and former school teacher, Mrs. Carcieri said she too is concerned for children, and called it important "not to experiment..''

Rhode Island is now the only New England state that does not recognize gay marriages, civil unions or domestic partnerships. With yesterday's vote by Vermont lawmakers to override their governor's veto, same-sex marriage is now legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont, while New Jersey and New Hampshire allow civil unions and Maine has had a domestic-partnership law since 2004 that extends certain legal rights, such as inheritance rights, to heterosexual and gay couples who live together under long-term arrangements.

The House Judiciary Committee here in Rhode Island had scheduled a hearing for Wednesday night on a bill allowing same-sex couples who married in other states to divorce in Rhode Island, but the hearing has been cancelled. House spokesman Larry Berman said it was cancelled because the House Judiciary Committee faced a long agenda tonight, and leaders did not feel it was fair to make people wait hours to testify for an important bill such as that, that was likely to draw a crowd. He said the hearing would be rescheduled for sometime during the week after the lawmakers' week-long Easter break.

The press conference centered on a new TV ad that the National Organization for Marriage intends to air in Rhode Island and other battleground states.

Titled "Gathering Storm,'' it features actors - standing against an ominous, grey-sky backdrop - saying things like: "'There is a storm gathering and I am afraid...I am a parent helplessly watching public schools teach my son that gay marriage is okay...I am a church charity punished because we cannot treat two men just like a husband and wife...But we have hope a rainbow coalition of peoples of every creed and color are coming together, in love, to protect marriage.'' At the bottom of the screen is a disclaimer: "The stories these actors are telling are based on real life incidents.''