Rhode Island Legislature Overrides Veto Of Partner Funeral Rights Bill

As expected, today the Rhode Island legislature voted to override Gov. Don Carcieri's hateful veto of a bill granting same-sex partners the right to make burial decisions about each other.

The House -- and then the Senate -- voted to override Republican Carcieri's veto of a bill giving domestic partners the right to claim the bodies of -- and make funeral arrangements for -- their loved ones. The House vote was 67 to 3 and the Senate vote was 29 to 3. The only one of dueling defense-of-marriage, same-sex marriage and gay-rights bills introduced in Rhode Island last year that cleared the General Assembly, the legislation was an outgrowth of the personal tale that Mark S. Goldberg told lawmakers about his months-long battle last fall to persuade state authorities to release to him for cremation the body of his partner of 17 years, Ron Hanby.

In his veto message, 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," he wrote.

RI Gov. Don Carcieri: Dirty Queers Do Not Have The Right To Bury Their Partners

Saying it was a "disturbing erosion" of the "principles surrounding traditional marriage," today Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri vetoed a bill that would allow same-sex couples to make burial decisions about each other. Carcieri added that if the legislature didn't like that, he would welcome a statewide ballot vote on how to bury queers. (I'm paraphrasing.)

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. The legislation defines a domestic partner as someone who was in an "exclusive, intimate and committed relationship" with the deceased and had lived with him or her for at least a year prior to the death; is at least 18, not married to anyone else, not related by blood and who was financially "interdependent'' with the deceased as evidenced, for example, by a joint mortgage, shared credit card or domestic partnership contract.

Carcieri said the one-year period of cohabitation required by the burial law was insufficient to override what may be the contrary burial wishes of the biological family of the deceased. Meanwhile, heterosexual couples that have known each other for ten minutes will instantly gain that right upon marriage.