RI Governor Takes Bigotry Beyond the Grave

Unfrigginbelievable:

An opponent of same-sex marriage, Governor Carcieri has vetoed a bill that would have added "domestic partners'' to the list of people authorized by law to make funeral arrangements for each other.

So now gay people can't even bury their dead. Bigotry knows no bounds.

As written, he said the bill would allow the decisions of a "partner'' of a year to take precedence over "traditional family members,'' and he believes a "one year time period is not a sufficient duration to establish a serious bond between two individuals...[relative to] sensitive personal traditions and issues regarding funeral arrangements, burial rights and disposal of human remains.''

But if you're of opposite genders and married a year, of course there's no problem. Idiot.

The bill came about because domestic partners are in a Catch-22 -- only legally married persons can make death arrangements for each other, but gay people can't get married. The problem became front-page news when a gay man told of his months-long battle to get the state to release to him the body of his partner of 17 years, only to have the request rejected because "we were not legally married or blood relatives."

This is wrong, plain and simple. The bill was passed by the legislature, including a majority of those who oppose gay marriage, and yet this governor thinks it his duty to stop gay people from even burying their dead. Here's hoping the RI legislature overrides the veto and tells the gov what to do with his prejudice.