In a wild attempt to come up with some other explanation besides---legislators were hearing massive objections from their constituents--the gay press is posting a conspiracy by gay marriage advocates to scuttle gay marriage in Rhode Island. GoLocalProv reports:

Amid the fallout over the failure to pass a gay marriage bill, a national gay news site has published a controversial report accusing the very organization that was leading the fight—Marriage Equality Rhode Island—of actually undermining the cause.

The report, which was published yesterday in the national gay news site, the EDGE, cites numerous sources who say that, even though MERI has consistently and publicly advocated for gay marriage, behind the scenes some MERI officials struck a deal with current and former Democratic legislators to scuttle the legislation in favor of a civil unions compromise.

Larry Berman, a spokesman for House Speaker Gordon Fox, told GoLocalProv there was no merit to the report.

... Joe Siegel, the author of the [EDGE] report, said he stands by the story. He said he ultimately received confirmation of his story from five separate sources—all with ties to MERI.

“There was absolutely backroom deals with Gordon Fox to pass the civil unions bill and delay the passage of the gay marriage bill until after the 2012 election,” Seigel told GoLocalProv.