MINNESOTA: Gov. Tim Pawlenty Vetoes Gay Burial Rights Bill

As he promised, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) has vetoed a bill that would have given gay couples the right to make burial decisions about their partners.

Citing his support for “traditional marriage,” Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed a bill on Saturday that would allow a surviving same-sex partner to sue to recover damages in the case of wrongful death and to execute a deceased partner’s funeral wishes. Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, called the veto “partisan extremism,” and Project 515 said Pawlenty got his “facts wrong.” Pawlenty said the bill “addresses a nonexistent problem” saying that same-sex couple must simply draw up the appropriate paperwork. He also said that a “surviving domestic partner” should not be “afforded the same legal recognition” as a spouse. “Marriage — as defined as between a man and a woman — should remain elevated in our society at a special level, as it traditionally has been,” said Pawlenty in his veto message. “I oppose efforts to treat domestic relationships as the equivalent of traditional marriage.”

Pawlenty has announced that he will not seek a third term in 2010, presumably to work on his expected 2012 presidential bid.