Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyNovember 13th, 2009
Gov. Carcieri speaking at the Massachusetts Family Institute banquet
Last Tuesday, Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri (R) vetoed a bill that would have added domestic partners to the list of people who are allowed to make funeral arrangements for each other. Now the Providence Journal reports that “a conciliatory” Governor Carcieri told a gay-rights group that he is willing to consider an “almost anything but marriage” domestic partnership law. Carcieri reportedly said this after meeting privately yesterday for more than an hour in his office with a representatives of Queer Action of Rhode Island. Carcieri reportedly cited the domestic partnerships law that won voter approval in Washington as a possible model:
“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.
Following Carcieri’s veto, Queer Action issued a statement calling him a bigot and said that his repeated claims “that he does not discriminate against gay people” was proven to be a lie by his veto. Susan Heroux, spokesperson for Queer Action, said, “First, the governor raises money for an anti-gay hate group in another state, and now he proves that he is motivated more by bigotry than caring for his fellow citizens with this veto action.” Carcieri was the keynote speaker at a banquet for the Massachusetts Family Institute on October 15.
Heroux was pleased with the yesterday’s meeting with Gov. Carcieri. Also present at the meeting was Mark Goldberg, whose five-week battle with the Rhode Island Health Department to claim the body of his partner of 17 years from the state morgue, had sparked the legislation. The state refused to release the body despite all of the legal paperwork — wills, living wills, power of attorney and a marriage certificate from Massachusetts — that Goldberg had provided. Carcieri said he could not understand the Health Department\’s handling of the case, and would ask his staff to look into it.
The bill to allow domestic partners to make funeral arrangements for each other passed the state house on a 63-1 vote, and passed the Senate unanimously. House and Senate leaders are considering an override of the governor’s veto.
Latest Posts
Featured Reports
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
“Google” is a trademark of Google Inc.
© Box Turtle Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
Timothy Kincaid
November 13th, 2009
I’m suspicious. A careful review of Carcieri’s language reveals his agenda:
This is language that suggests to me that he will only support benefits that are non-partner related. And attempts by the legislature to enact domestic partner status that is based on defacto families will be suspect.
Only language similar to Hawaii’s “any two random people” from college roommates to brothers is likely to appeal to Carcieri. He’s too busy “protecting the definition of marriage” to ever allow an institution that would recognize same-sex couples as similar in any way to God-ordained, Church-blessed, REAL couples, ya know.
Or so I suspect. I will be delighted to be wrong.
Ephilei
November 13th, 2009
I’m suspicious why someone who opposes funeral benefits would support all domestic partnership benefits, which would include those same funeral benefits. Either there’s some legal subtlety I don’t understand or this is just politicking.
Rebecca
November 13th, 2009
In favor of domestic partnerships. Suuuuuuuure, Carcieri, who just vetoed a law to allow gay people to bury their partners.
Burr
November 13th, 2009
Well if we are to take him at his word, he said the reason he vetoed the funeral arrangements measure was because he didn’t want to start a precedent of crafting law for each and every benefit.
However, in his veto he also suggested that any all-in-one remedy to disparities be voted on by the state at-large, which makes his new assertion of being open to legislation a headscratcher.
Dan
November 13th, 2009
If gay people are allowed to bury their dead partners, then school children could be taught about homosexual funerals.
CB
November 14th, 2009
He’s running for re-election and doesn’t want to sound like a bigot. He’s done nothing for the gay community, but now that he’s in election mode, time to put out the lies. If he gets re-elected, I would bet that he gives the gay community the shaft. His opponent stated that he would’ve signed the funeral bill, now, suddenly Carcieri is trying to be a friend. FIGURE THE ODDS!
Mike Airhart
November 14th, 2009
Minor nitpick: Carcieri can’t run for re-election. He’s a lame-duck governor being pushed out by term limits.
The purpose of these recent actions is to improve his image on the Christian Right and conservative Catholic speaker circuit.
Leave A Comment