A week after New York became the nation's most populous state to legalize gay marriage, tiny Rhode Island is set to vote on a bill to allow same-sex civil unions.

On the eve of long anticipated action by Rhode Island's Senate, activists on both sides of the issue were busy urging legislative leaders to either revise certain provisions or halt its passage altogether.

If voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, just days before the 2011 legislative session ends, the bill could face balloting by the full Senate as early as late Wednesday, Senate spokesman Greg Pare said.