I think it's holding out for two reasons; 1) A very heavy Catholic population, and 2) The state recognizes gay marriages from out of state and it's a very tiny state. So small, that at the end of the nineties, we regularly went out of state for Christmas shopping or seeing movies. Unless you're intent on marrying in your childhood home or in scenic Newport, you can work around the system with a drive that's considered worth two percentage points of sales tax. Obviously, it'll still be fought for, but it's probably not seen as a pragmatic battleground, unless claiming all of New England is that important a symbolic victory.

I read that it is pretty much only because of their Governor, and not much else. So it'll hop over after his term limit is up. And yes, I am pretty sure the symbolic victory of claiming all of New England is exactly why its a big deal, even though its a small state. It would be a cohesive geographic and population block with a shared identity. Iowa really broke the mold, but I feel with the New england thing, people keep forgetting about it.