PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — LGBT rights advocates say that marriage equality is likely to be on the agenda when Ocean State lawmakers convene for the legislative session in January. House Speaker Gordon Fox (D-Providence), who is openly-gay, has promised that if he remains leader of the House, he will call for a vote on gay marriage.

Fox says he’ll ‘‘work his backside off ’’ to promote the issue. He faces opposition in the State Senate, including from that chamber’s President, Teresa Paiva Weed.

Last year, Rhode Island’s General Assembly approved civil unions for same-sex couples. “We are in a New England state, and you can easily go across the state line to get married,” said Fox. ‘‘I want to have my marriage in the state of Rhode Island.’’