PROVIDENCE — They traveled two hours to get to their wedding.

It was a lovely spot — the edge of Paradise Pond on the college campus where they fell in love. But it was not home.

Tiffany and Jessie Rauch-Dickson were joined in marriage on Oct. 5, 2006, in Northampton, Mass. It was the first day — after a mandatory three-day waiting period — that Massachusetts law allowed same-sex couples to become legally wed.

The young Providence couple traveled across state lines that day to formalize a lifelong commitment because Rhode Island law prohibits a woman from marrying another woman.

Yesterday, wearing platinum wedding bands, they stood before a small podium in a vast marble State House hall to share their experience with a small crowd of supporters and media. It was not the first gay marriage rally in the State House. Nor will it likely be the last.

A bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Rhode Island has been introduced in the House and Senate this session — marking at least the fifth consecutive year that such legislation has been proposed. It faces staunch opposition from the governor and the leaders of the House and Senate.

“We’re not second-class citizens,” Tiffany Rauch-Dickson said from the podium, standing next to her wife. “We’re two consenting adults who want to have and hold, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health — for the sake of our own futures and for the sake of our generation.”

Among those who applauded after Rauch-Dickson’s brief address were Patricia Lynch-Gadeleta and her wife Margaret, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch’s sister. After spending 18 years together, the Lynch-Gadeletas were married on Feb. 15 in private ceremony in Attleboro attended by the attorney general.

While several couples spoke from the podium, neither Margaret, nor her wife formally addressed the crowd. Many held large cutouts of colored hearts bearing the words “Just Married.”

Before the event, Margaret Lynch-Gadeleta said she hoped to “raise some awareness” on the issue of same-sex marriage by attending. “This obviously is very personal and close to home,” she said, standing next to her wife. “We are very proud of who we are.”

Patricia Lynch-Gadeleta said they didn’t want to leave Rhode Island to wed.

“If the option had been there to marry in Rhode Island, we would have done that,” she said.

While the same-sex marriage marriage bill in Rhode Island has some support from the House leadership — House Majority Leader Gordon Fox is a co-sponsor — staunch opposition remains from the governor, House Speaker William J. Murphy, and Senate President Joseph A. Montalbano.

“Not much has changed in terms of the political landscape, has it?” a frustrated Fox said yesterday.

A spokesman for the governor yesterday confirmed Fox’s concern.

“Governor Carcieri has been consistently clear that he believes marriage is a historic institution between a man and a woman,” spokesman Jeff Neal said. “He does not support same-sex marriage legislation.”

Neal said the governor is “open to certain possibilities” regarding a separate civil union bill introduced for the first time this session. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Paul Crowley, D-Newport, would allow couples to “receive the benefits and protections and be subject to the responsibilities of spouses.”

But it would also define marriage as “the legally recognized union of one man and one woman.”

The House Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing for the same-sex marriage bill and the civil-union bill in early May, according to committee Chairman Rep. Donald Lally, D-Narragansett. This will be the fifth consecutive year the committee will host such a hearing.

At the rally, Chris Butler, 38, of Pawtucket, said he had hope things might change this year.

“It’s discouraging,” he said, his husband at his side. “But in retrospect, we’ve come a long way in a short time. There’s movement in the General Assembly. People are more willing to talk about it.”

He noted that hundreds of Rhode Island same-sex couples are now legally married. “We’re married. The sky hasn’t fallen. People haven’t married their dogs,” he said.

While there were no protesters at the event, the timing of the rally — Holy Thursday — was criticized by the Catholic Diocese of Providence.

“This evening, thousands of Rhode Islanders will travel to their Churches for an evening of prayer and reflection,” diocesan spokesman Michael Guilfoyle said in a statement. “The Bishop expresses his sadness and disappointment that again, a Holy Day was selected to call attention to this issue.”

Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin sharply criticized Attorney General Lynch earlier in the year for announcing an opinion on Ash Wednesday that Rhode Island would officially recognize same-sex marriages validly performed in other states.

The timing of yesterday’s rally was coincidental, according to event organizer, Jenn Steinfeld, director of the advocacy group Marriage Equality Rhode Island.

“Certainly it was not intentional,” she said, noting that she is Jewish and hadn’t considered the Catholic holiday. “We’re not interested in challenging the Catholic church.”

speoples@projo.com