by Shaun Knittel - SGN Staff Writer

Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri vetoed a bill this week that would have added domestic partners to the list of people authorized by law to make funeral arrangements for each other.

The bill would have added domestic partners to the list, in current law, of people who can legally make arrangements for a deceased person's funeral, cremation or burial 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 has lived with him or her for at least a year prior to 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.

According to the bill's sponsors, State Senator Rhoda Perry and State Representative David Segal, the legislation is designed to provide rights to domestic partners regardless of whether they are of the same or opposite sex.

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."

Carcieri went on to say, "The bill would allow the decisions of a partner of a year to take precedence over traditional family members. & A one-year time period is not a sufficient duration to establish a serious bond between two individuals."

Rep. Segal, who described himself as "genuinely upset" by the governor's actions, said, "I think the man is heartless and this has become a bad joke that has carried on for far too long."

The joke, Segal says, is "[Carcieri's] insistent, persistent need to assert himself by undermining the lives of Gay people who love each other and want to be in committed relationships."

"People are trying to piece their lives together, which is what Rhode Island is requiring them to do without legal recognition," said Kathy Kushnir, executive director of the advocacy group Marriage Equality of Rhode Island. When domestic partners are "faced with a time that could not be more difficult or more painful, not even being able to take care of funeral arrangements for their loved ones" is "unconscionable."

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