Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

This is just disgusting bigotry on the part of the Governor. I am not one who would benefit from the change in the law, but it is an obvious affront to certain citizens of this state who are denied rights for no apparent reason. When will logic and reason prevail over antiquated prejudices?

Wow, we cannot even bury our dead. This governor wants to run everyones life. He uses traditional family as his escape goat. Hey governor, contrary to your opinion, we all pick our friends not our relatives. That is why I do not depend on the likes of people like you to define my choices and I would recommend to all gay people out there. Get a legal document defining your relationship, demanding how and who you want to execute your estate and in health care, not only should you determine who will make decisions for you, but have a lawyer draw up documents as well. Most importantly, always leave your "traditional family" at least one dollar in your will that way they have little to contest. Protect yourselves because our country , that we live in considers us second class citizens and not worthy of their benefits. Peace

When Gay and Lesbian TAXPAYERS pass-away, their funeral decisions, should NOT be made by their partners of 30,40 or 50 years, Governor and Mrs Carcieri should make those decisions for them.
(with advise from the CRAZY Rev Fred Phelps and Bishop Tobin, of course)

This man is an ignorant buffoon who history will judge harshly. Like Goc. Wallace blocking the schoolhouse door in the 60's, Carcieri will be exposed for the small-minded, ignorant, shockingly mean spirited little man that he is.

"one year time period is not a sufficient duration to establish a serious bond between two individuals"
So a straight couple married for 10 months, is NOT
a serious bond, according to Carcieri. And they
SHOULD NOT be allowed to make funeral arrangements

What a shame!!! I am heterosexual..I know lots of people who are gay....Not a lifestyle that they chose. I am sure that everyone behind this bill knows someone (probably care deeply about them) who is gay!!! Shame, Governor!!!...When did you become the voice of everyone???

Jackson, this Governor will not be judged harshly in history. He will be judged as an honest man who tried to save the state money and help this state but was rebuffed by the Democratic general Assembly who are all in bed with the unions and special interest groups. He is one of the few in that whole state house whom we can trust. The others have THEIR hands in YOUR pockets.

This is deplorable. Lower than low. What an insult to the citizens of RI. He should be impeached. Just another reason for the many wealthy and decent hard working class families alike with gay relatives (myself included), co-workers, and friends are definately going to eventually leave this state for good as it becomes a low class uneducated cesspool more and more each day.

The governor's veto is downright appalling. It's no wonder people are leaving RI left and right.

This man has no understanding of the constitution and the separation of church and state. He should be impeached and not allowed to complete his term.

Well, if the Governor believes that some people's relationship rights should be put up to a vote, why don't the people of Rhode Island hold a referendum advocating dissolution of his own marriage? Perhaps if he was stripped of the rights he so clearly wants to deny other citizens, he'd start behaving like a public official who actually is supposed to protect the interests of ALL the citizens.

Moreover, the Governor appears to view the state interest in funeral preparation as some dictatorial policy requiring licensing from the state. In fact, the only state interest in the regulation of the ceremonies and disposal of the dead is solely based on PUBLIC HEALTH - not on marriage.

I suggest all those residents of Rhode Island who are single and living with someone, straight or gay, designate a place in their backyards for a family plot and declare their property independent of the state. They can appeal to some civilized government to become an outpost of another country (like a consulate) or just declare their homes and property no longer part of Rhode Island.

They have all the right reasons to do it - after all, the governor of the state is clearly behaving like some tyrannical monarch.

Henry,

Apparently the people of RI can trust him to defy their last wishes, if they happen to be gay.

Honestly? I'll take corrupt over callous.

As a former Rhode Islander, I can honestly say I would never move back to the Ocean State if it continues to be run by neanderthals like Gov. Carcieri. How can he claim to be a good Christian when one of the corporal works of mercy is to bury the dead. This veto, sure to be overridden, is nothing less than a mean-spirited attack on a minority population by a hate-filled man whom history will judge in the same category as elected officials (he cannot be called a leader) who barred women and African-Americans from full equality before civil law. What a heart-less thing to do.

I guess the Governor considers the 55-hour marriage of a pop star to be more valid than a one-year or 50-tear committed partnership. To quote Joseph Welch who asked the same question of Senator Joseph McCarthy, I hope all RIers ask this governor, "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"

Upset with the governor's decision?

Let him know:
http://www.governor.ri.gov/contact/#

In 59 years of life as a gay man, I do not recall such a monsterous act by a politician in any state, let alone in one that has been consistently progressive. I am deeply saddened to know that anyone, especially the Governor of Rhode Island, can act in such a mean spirit and without any human compassion toward us (or anyone). Please Rhode Island: let's remove this Governor and the stain he has brought to this great State. He is NOT worthy of any office, let alone such high office.

First, it is an insult that after more than 30 years together, my partner and I need a special law for burial rights. It was an insult to hear people on talk radio approving the legislation by saying it was "the humane thing to do." We are not animals to be treated kindly. We are human beings who follow laws, do our jobs well, help others when we can--we are good citizens, but we are not treated as such. We live apart from all the laws that protect heterosexual loving couples. And now in this battle for dignity and human rights, we are not even allowed to carry away our own dead. For his sake, I hope the governor's god is more tolerant than he is.

I totally agree that the Governor does not speak for ALL of the people in the State of RI. Only those people that he approves of are given any consideration. Thank God for term limits.

"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.''

Kewel. Let's put to a public vote a law that would bar anyone of Italian descent from marrying someone of a different heritage!

Goldberg said he tried to show the police and the state medical examiner's office "our wills, living wills, power of attorney and marriage certificate" from Connecticut, but "no one was willing to see these documents."

There is something really fishy here. Why would they ignore a will? Wills have nothing to do with whether you are married or related and the state can't ignore a legally executed will.

This story doesn't wash.

Shorter Carcieri: "The Vatican won't like it."

Where are all the libertarians and "get the government out of my personal life" republicans???
Oh that's right, it's only another farce to grab more power for themselves (big business, gun lobby, etc) while putting more burdens on groups they are bigoted against.
The government is obstructing a private citizen's private business! Deregulate government-run marriage!
It's sick how conservatives are anti-government when it comes to social aid programs, but for authoritarian government when it comes to forces their bigotry on the state.

"I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. " - Mohandas Gandhi

How disgusting! My partner of 10 years was thrown out of his home and his FOURTEEN siblings, Mom, Dad had NOTHING to do with him during that time. NOTHING. When he died, I was told to leave the hospital, barred from the funeral and he was given a "Christian" burial instead of the cremation he wanted. He had been in the hospital for 3 weeks before he passed away and no one relative called or came by to see him. Yes, they knew about his hospitalization because I called the Mom when he was checked in. Even worse, the "preacher" at his funeral said my partner had "admitted he sinned for being gay". I would love to know where he heard that since my partner had not been in church in 29 years and hated religion. I got this news from a recording his Mom sent me to prove he was "saved". 11 years later I still hurt.

Don't forget he's up for reelection next year!

Here's Lincoln Chafee's campaign website: http://www.chafeeforgovernor.com/

Very sad. I knew Ron Hanby and he was a good person. He would have been mortified at the thought of a government body causing his physical body to sit in limbo for a month while anti-gay bureaucratic red tape played out. Ron deserved better, as did his partner. The people of Rhode Island deserve better than this veto as well.

I hope the veto is overridden by the Rhode Island legislature. Together they can put add a bit of common sense decency into Rhode Island law and give the governor a badly-needed lesson on compassion.

Are there enough votes to override him?

I have said prayers for that sinner's soul who denied loving people a final dignity. Judgement Day is coming. Homophobia is a sin.

Carcieri is reason I visited every New England state while taking care to use the MassTurnpike (rather than rt 95 which cuts through Rhode Island) to avoid every inch of RI on my way home to Maryland.

I went through the length of Mass from Provincetown to the NY state border down the Hudson Valley over Tappan Zee bridge to NJ, stopped in DE (suddenly as good a state as Maryland for gay rights as of June of 2009 after one of its very worst DE antigay legislators passed away allowing several DE gay rights laws to pass that before were not possible. I saw beautiful autumn New England and New York State scenery and avoided RI.

I e-mailed Carcieri to let him know he was the cause of me avoiding RI tourism. The man is simply hateful from what I read of him.

One of my sadder memories of life in Rhode Island goes back to the mid-80s when a butch lesbian died at a young age. Her gay friends were shocked when they entered the Providence cathedral and saw that her biological relatives chose to display her body in a dress. She never would have worn such a garment while alive, and it was a heartless insult to both her and her surviving partner. The governor's veto allows such cruelty to continue in an era when most heterosexual people are willing to let gay couples live (and die) in peace and dignity. Gay couples spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on wills, living wills, powers of attorney, trusts, etc., yet sometimes bigots still prevail. This is why gay people need full legal marriage rights nationwide.

This idiot is on the wrong side of history and needs to go away so RI can move forward. He and his rediculous wife are holding back RI's progression on so many fronts. Not only has he failed to stimulate the economy, but now businesses and individuals will choose to go somewhere else. Way to go old man.

more quality republican governance for the alabama of new england.

My partner and I signed a "declaration as to remains" to make sure we could legally bury one another - this was in MA but such a document should also be possible in RI - I encourage couples to do this!!!! while we wait for justice.

It's always republicans that shout against too much government interference, until it comes to the gays. Then they're all for government interference and lots of it. The republican party and those that belong to it ought to be ashamed for their bigoted ways.

There's simply no excuse for this except EVIL. Cruelty. Maliciousness. There's not even a hackneyed religious justification you can dig out of the Bible.