Whatever your position on same-sex marriage, when one partner dies, the marriage is over and the loving partner of the dear departed should be granted all the grace and dignity that goes into what is normally a grief-stricken goodbye to their life’s partner.Â
But not in Rhode Island.
As much as I’d hate to give the conservatives in OC any ideas, the conservative Governor of Rhode Island, Don Carcieri, has taken the unusually cruel step of vetoing a bill to deny same-sex rights for arranging funeral services. Read about this here.
From the story on CBS.com:
Gov. Don Carcieri vetoed legislation Tuesday that would give same-sex couples in Rhode Island the same right to plan the funerals of their late partners as married couples.
The socially conservative Republican said the proposed protection represents a “disturbing trend” of the incremental erosion of heterosexual marriage. Rhode Island does not recognize same-sex marriage.
“If the General Assembly believes it would like to address the issue of domestic partnership, it should place the issue on the ballot and let the people of the State of Rhode Island decide,” Carcieri said in a letter to lawmakers.
Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in the Legislature and frequently override Carcieri’s objections.
Sen. Rhoda Perry and Rep. David Segal, the bill sponsors, said they would seek to override the veto. They proposed the legislation after one of their constituents was unable to retrieve the body of his late partner from the state medical examiner for weeks because they weren’t married or next-of-kin.
My favortie commentary on this is from the drinkatwork blog and it goes like this:
Remember, Governors: the media may forget, voters may forget, even God may forget. But the Lifetime network will NEVER forget. When you veto a citizen’s right to BURY A LOVED ONE, you’re not standing up for “natural marriage.” You’re winning the award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Pornographic Asshattery. Your certificate is in the mail.