R.I. governor open to domestic partnership bill
- www.gaypolitics.com Nov 13, 2009
Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri this week said in a veto statement that he worried about a “disturbing trend” in the weakening of heterosexual marriage, but now he says he’d be open to an omnibus measure that could grant substantial partnership rights to unmarried couples.
After vetoing a bill that allowed unmarried partners to plan one another’s’ funerals, Carcieri met privately yesterday with LGBT-rights group Queer Action of Rhode Island, and said that a domestic partners registry would be “something we should consider,” according to the Providence Journal.
Citing as a possible model the “everything but marriage” referendum that won approval in the state of Washington earlier this month, Carcieri said: “I don’t know enough, yet. All I am saying is I understand the circumstances. I understand the difficulties” that can arise for same-sex couples and others — such as widows living with widowers, and widows with other widows — outside the legal framework of a traditional marriage.
“Let’s see if we can find a way to solve that without discreet [pieces] of legislation every time something comes up. I just don’t think that is the right way to deal with it,” he said.
The spokeswoman for Queer Action responded that “we are interested in getting all of the rights, not just some of them.”
