lip service

RI Gov. Cariceri Says He’s Willing to ‘Consider’ Domestic Partnerships. Lies?

Donald-Carcieri

He’s on the record as being against gay marriage. And just this week he vetoed a bill that would let gay domestic partners make funeral arrangements for their deceased loved one. But now Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri says he’s willing to “consider” an “everything but marriage” domestic partnership law? Color us confused.

Carcieri has, rightfully so, been taking heat from gay rights groups. But at least he’s willing to talk with them. Yesterday he met privately with Queer Action of Rhode Island, who called him a “bigot” after the veto, where he told activists a DP bill is “maybe … something we should consider.” He added: “I don’t know enough, yet. All I am saying is I understand the circumstances. I understand the difficulties [of gay couples]. … 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.”

The sit-down had been in the works for a few weeks, after Carcieri agreed to keynote a Massachusetts Family Institute event and said this about marriage: “It is a not civil right. I get aggravated when it is portrayed that way. Marriage is a license by the state. It is about a state’s responsibility, which is the reason why states don’t allow a lot of types of marriages. … It’s abundantly clear to me that we have a tremendous problem. [Families are] the single most important public policy issue today and yet it is not talked about. We are failing our children.”

Evidently, he gets “aggravated” when people call him a bigot, too.

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