Rhode Island House of Representatives Passes Gay Marriage Legisl - kcentv.com - KCEN HD - Waco, Temple, and Killeen

(KCEN) -- The Rhode Island House of Representatives passed gay marriage legislation by a huge margin on Thursday.

After passionate speeches from legislators on both sides of the issue, the House passed a same-sex marriage bill.

The final vote was 51-to-19 in favor.

The bill now moves on to the state Senate, where passage is still not a certainty because every same-sex marriage bill introduced since 1997 has been defeated.

Nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized same sex marriage.