PROVIDENCE — In a state Senate hearing on legalizing same-sex marriage last week, only two people testified against the measure; more than 30 testified in favor. Last night, the measure’s opponents came out in force for the House hearing on the bill.

Several mentioned they had come after reading about the overwhelming sentiment of support for same-sex marriage at last week’s hearing.

Stephen Boyce, pastor of New Life Worship Center in Smithfield, urged lawmakers “to oppose what the overwhelming majority of Rhode Islanders oppose.”

The hearing continued late into the night, but of the first 30 people who testified, 16 were for legalizing same-sex marriage, 14 against.

Boyce said even more people oppose the measure, but “are afraid to speak out … because they don’t want to be labeled as bigots or hate-mongers.”

Jenn Steinfeld, director of Marriage Equality Rhode Island, countered by citing two polls indicating that at least as many Rhode Islanders favor legalizing same-sex marriage as oppose it.

As the evening progressed, with the two sides offering conflicting arguments, one thing was clear: No one on either side wanted civil unions.

Besides the same-sex marriage bill sponsored by Rep. Arthur Handy, D-Cranston, the committee considered a bill by Rep. William J. McManus, R-Lincoln, that would allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions with the same legal benefits and protections as marriage.

Mark Simmons, a Providence resident who is gay, told the committee that he served as the best man in his twin brother’s wedding last year. “I want everything that my twin brother is going to have,” Simmons said. “I want to get married. Nobody ever says ‘I want to get civil unioned.’ ”

Steinfeld questioned whether other states would recognize civil unions. Giving the example of Rhode Islanders who require medical care in Massachusetts, Steinfeld said she was unsure whether other states would extend partners in civil unions the same legal rights they give to married people.

On the other side of the debate, Nancy Boyce — the wife of Stephen Boyce, and his co-pastor at the New Life Worship Center — also denounced civil unions, saying legalizing civil unions would be “the same as redefining marriage.”

“God defined marriage as one man, one woman,” Boyce said. “That’s it. It’s defined. It’s undebatable.”

Many of the arguments made last night, both for and against, centered on religion.

Rabbi Yehoshua Laufer told the committee that the first letter of the word government also “stands for the word God” and that the government gets its authority from God.

Laufer was one of a string of speakers opposing same-sex marriage on religious grounds. The pattern prompted state Rep. Edith H. Ajello, a co-sponsor on both the same-sex marriage and civil-union bills, to comment: “I’m almost offended by the amount of time that I have listened to other people’s religion, other people’s idea of God.” She said Handy’s bill “would put no responsibility on any of your houses of worship to recognize a marriage between two men or two women,” and noted that it explicitly states that “each religious institution has exclusive control over its own religious doctrine, policy, and teachings regarding who may marry within their faith, and on what terms.”

Speaking for a coalition of more than 100 religious leaders, the Rev. Eugene T. Dyszlewski, pastor of Riverside Congregational Church in East Providence said the coalition’s members hold that their religious beliefs compel them to endorse same-sex marriage and urge government to do the same.

The committee was not expected to take any votes last night, and Rhode Island is unlikely to legalize same-sex marriage this year. Governor Carcieri, House Speaker William J. Murphy and Senate President Joseph A. Montalbano all personally oppose the measure. However, several Judiciary Committee members’ questions and statements last night seemed to indicate a more sympathetic view.

As Joanne McOsker, president of Catholics for Life, said homosexuality is a treatable psychological condition and spoke of a physician who had “successfully” converted many homosexuals to heterosexual orientation, Rep. Amy G. Rice, D-Portsmouth, held up letters from the American Psychological Association and American Academy of Pediatrics stating that growing up in a household with two parents of the same sex doesn’t harm children.

“You think that this committee should take one doctor’s opinion over a whole association of doctors?” Rice asked McOsker.

As the Rev. John Codega, pastor of a Roman Catholic church in West Warwick, asked lawmakers to defend the institution of marriage, Rep. Donna M. Walsh, D-Charlestown, asked him: “What are we defending 97 percent of the population from?”

Most who spoke in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage last night said religious arguments are beside the point. Providence resident Wendy Becker married her partner in Massachusetts last year. Referring to a column written by Thomas J. Tobin, bishop of the Diocese of Providence, about their wedding and same-sex marriage in general, Becker said, “We honestly don’t know which part of that is …‘disturbing and morally objectionable.’ We don’t know which part of that is ‘spiritually harmful to individuals and families.’ …Our relationships are worthy and moral and loving and we deserve all that comes with marriage.”

egudrais@projo.com