This is one of the most stunning and hateful moves I've seen by a politician in a long time. It defies basic decency and humanity. And, it makes us realize that it's just not safe to be gay in America. There are leaders who still hate us so much that they won't provide couples with any rights -- even after one of them is dead:
An opponent of same-sex marriage, Governor Carcieri has vetoed bill that would have added "domestic partners'' to the list of people authorized by law to make funeral arrangements for each other.He thinks people should vote on whether someone should be able to bury their dead partner. Wow. He really hates us.
In his veto message, Republican Carcieri said: "This bill represents a disturbing trend over the past few years of the incremental erosion of the principles surrounding traditional marriage, which is not the preferred way to approach this issue.
"If the General Assembly believes it would like to address the issue of domestic partnerships, it should place the issue on the ballot and let the people of the state of Rhode Island decide.''
The bill, also sponsored by state Sen. Rhoda Perry and state Rep. David Segal, would add "domestic partners'' to the list, in current law, of people who can legally make arrangements for a deceased person's funeral, cremation or burial to include domestic partners if the deceased person left no pre-arranged funeral contract.
In Maine, near the end of the campaign, the Yes side put out an ad claiming to support rights for same-sex couples, not just marriage. It was a lie, but probably had an impact. In fact, the Bishop's lobbyist, Marc Mutty, who ran the Yes campaign, actively lobbied against domestic partner benefits.
Denying dignity in death. This easily makes Carcieri one of the most homophobic elected officials in the country. Probably makes the Catholic Bishops happy.
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