PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Rhode Island’s House majority leader has been elected speaker in a lopsided vote days after the abrupt resignation of one of the state government’s most powerful figures.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) _ Civil liberties advocates are praising the state of Rhode Island for making it easier for transgendered residents to change their gender designation on their birth certificates.

(EDGE) The Rhode Island Foundation has announced that seven nonprofit organizations serving the state's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) communities will receive more than $50,000 in grants through its Equity Action Fund. The money will fund services ranging from wellness programs to domestic violence prevention.

The openly gay speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, Gordon Fox, abruptly resigned his leadership position Saturday following a police raid on his home Friday for a criminal investigation.

(WM) A Providence City Council member has resigned from a leadership post after a recording surfaced of him using transphobic language to discuss a transgender activist.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) — The University of Rhode Island has broken ground on a new center for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students.

(CNN) -- A medical marijuana advocate turned write-in candidate for Rhode Island governor has garnered instant social media attention by smoking what she says is pot in a campaign video.