Efforts to extend marriage rights to gay couples in Rhode Island suffered a decisive setback Wednesday when a key legislative champion said he was abandoning a push to pass gay marriage legislation this year. House Speaker Gordon Fox, who is gay, said the legislation has "no realistic chance" of passing the state's General Assembly this year. Fox, a Providence Democrat, said instead he will support new legislation creating civil unions that would offer substantially the same rights given by the state to married couples. "This is the best we can do right now," he said. "Full marriage will happen. I'm born and bred in Rhode Island. When I do get married it will be in my home state."