Shumlin was president pro tem of the Senate on both occasions.
“We have a wonderful story to tell,’’ Shumlin said yesterday. “We were the first state in the country to do the right thing, just because it was the right thing to do… . There were those who thought the sky would fall in, but we did the right thing, and the sky never fell.’’
The governor’s trip, planned for Thursday, comes after an invitation from the pro-gay marriage group Marriage Equality Rhode Island.
Shumlin will meet with Governor Lincoln Chafee and with legislative leaders in Providence.
Rhode Island lawmakers have debated gay marriage for years, but chances for the bill to pass this year seem better than ever.
Chafee has been a longtime supporter of gay marriage, and House Speaker Gordon Fox is gay and a cosponsor of the bill.
A Fox spokesman did not return a call seeking comment.
Greg Pare, a spokesman for Rhode Island Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, a gay marriage opponent who is seen as an obstacle to passing a bill, said he did not know whether she would meet with Shumlin.
Gay marriage supporters in Vermont and Rhode Island praised Shumlin’s decision to make the trip.
“We are extremely pleased that Governor Shumlin is taking time out of his busy schedule to visit Rhode Island and that he has accepted our invitation to visit Rhode Island to advocate for passage of marriage equality legislation,’’ said Bill Fischer, a spokesman for Marriage Equality Rhode Island.
Sheryl Rapee-Adams, a board member of Vermont Freedom to Marry, said Shumlin had written to New Jersey lawmakers in 2009, urging them to follow Vermont’s lead.
That state has civil unions, but not full marriage, for same-sex couples.
