Rhode Island is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous,with slightly less than 1.1 million residents as of 2020;but Rhode Island has grown at every decennial count since 1790 and is the second-most densely populated state,after New Jersey. The state takes its name from the eponymous island,though nearly all of its land area is on the mainland. Rhode Island borders Connecticut to its west;Massachusetts to its north and east;and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound;and shares a small maritime border with New York,east of Long Island. Providence is its capital and most populous city.
James R. Langevin is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Rhode Island's 2nd congressional district from 2001 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party,he is the first quadriplegic to serve in Congress;Langevin was appointed to be the first quadriplegic speaker pro tempore of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019. Langevin did not seek reelection in 2022.
A massage parlor or massage parlour is a place where massage services are provided for a fee. In the 19th century,the term began to be used in English as a euphemism for a brothel.
David Nicola Cicilline is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Rhode Island's 1st congressional district since 2011. A member of the Democratic Party,he was the 36th mayor of Providence from 2003 to 2011,the first openly gay mayor of a U.S. state capital.
Prostitution in Rhode Island was outlawed in 2009. On November 3,2009,Republican Governor Donald Carcieri signed into law a bill which makes the buying and selling of sexual services a crime.
"Rhode Island's It For Me" is the regional anthem of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It was officially adopted as the state song in 1996,replacing "Rhode Island",by T. Clarke Browne,which became the official state march.
Daniel James McKee is an American politician and businessman serving as the 76th governor of Rhode Island since March 2021. A member of the Democratic Party,he also served as Rhode Island's 69th lieutenant governor from 2015 to 2021.
Happy Endings? is a 2009 cinéma véritédocumentary film directed and produced by Tara Hurley. Filmed over 27 months,it chronicles the lives of the women in massage parlors in Rhode Island during a battle in the state legislature to once again make prostitution illegal. During the period of filming,prostitution in Rhode Island was legal as long as it was conducted behind closed doors.
Donna M. Hughes is an American academic and feminist who chairs the women's studies department at the University of Rhode Island. Her research concerns prostitution and human trafficking;she was a prominent supporter of the campaign to end prostitution in Rhode Island,and has testified on these issues before several national legislative bodies. She sits on the editorial board of Sexualization,Media,and Society,a journal examining the impact of sexualized media.
The legal status of striptease varies considerably among different countries and the various jurisdictions of the United States. Striptease is considered a form of public nudity and subject to changing legal and cultural attitudes on moral and decency grounds. Some countries do not have any restrictions on performances of striptease. In some countries,public nudity is outlawed directly,while in other countries it may be suppressed or regulated indirectly through devices such as restrictions on venues through planning laws,or licensing regulations,or liquor licensing and other restrictions.
Rhoda Perry was a Democratic member of the Rhode Island Senate,representing the 3rd District. Perry was the chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Health &Human Services and a member of the Senate Committee on Judiciary.
The 2012 United States Senate election in Rhode Island was on November 6,2012,alongside the presidential election,elections to the United States House of Representatives,and various state and local elections.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) persons in the U.S. state of Rhode Island enjoy most of the same legal rights as non-LGBT people. Rhode Island established two types of major relationship recognition for same-sex couples,starting with civil unions on July 1,2011,and then on August 1,2013 with same-sex marriage. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is outlawed in the state in the areas of employment,housing and public accommodations. In addition,conversion therapy on minors has been banned since 2017.
Robert E. Craven,Sr. is an American politician and a Democrat in the Rhode Island House of Representatives representing District 32 since January 1,2013. He serves as Chairman of the House Municipal Government Committee and a member of the House Judiciary Committee. Craven also serves on the R.I. Governor's Justice Reinvestment Working Group.
John M. Carnevale is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives representing District 13 from January 2009 to January 2017.
Umberto "Bert" Crenca is an American artist,arts administrator,arts advisor and educator. He is known for being a founder and long-time artistic director of the non-profit arts organization,AS220,in Providence,Rhode Island. He has been credited with helping to "lay the groundwork for much of the cultural development that shaped the Providence imaginary in the 1990s and early decades of the 21st century" by scholar Micah Salkind,and in 2010 was identified as one of Rhode Island's Most Influential People by Rhode Island Monthly.
Jonathan Aaron Regunberg is an American progressive activist and politician who served as the member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives for the 4th district from 2015 to 2019. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor of Rhode Island in 2018.
Roberto "Bob" DaSilva is an American politician currently serving as the first Mayor of the City of East Providence,Rhode Island. A member of the Democratic Party,he previously served a State Representative for District 63 in the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 2009 to 2013.
Marta V. Martínez is a community program administrator,activist and historian in Providence,Rhode Island.
Terri-Denise Cortvriend is an American politician,businesswoman,pilot,and yacht captain. She is a democratic member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives,and before that served as a member of the Portsmouth School Committee.
