R.I. Governor Vetoes Gay funeral bill

The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Rhoda Perry and state Rep. David Segal, would have added “domestic partners” to the list of people legally authorized to make funeral, cremation or burial arrangements for their deceased partners. Heterosexual married couples already have these rights.

The Providence Journal reported that the bill was proposed after one man 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.

Gov Carcieri’s veto message, 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 defined a domestic partner as someone who was in an “exclusive, intimate and committed relationship” with the deceased person and had lived with them for at least a year. The bill also said the couple had to be financially “interdependent” by joint mortgage, shared credit card or domestic partnership contract.

Gov. Carcieri said the bill would allow the decisions of a “partner” of a year to take precedence over “traditional family members.” He said a “one year time period is not a sufficient duration to establish a serious bond between two individuals.”