Rhode Island legislators learned yesterday that Gov. Carcieri vetoed the gay funeral rights bill that passed in October.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Rhoda Perry and state Rep. David Segal, would have added “domestic partners” to the list of people legally authorized to make funeral, cremation or burial arrangements for their deceased partners. Heterosexual married couples already have these rights.
The Providence Journal reported that the bill was proposed after one man was unable to retrieve the body of his late partner from the state medical examiner for weeks because they weren’t married or next-of-kin.
Gov Carcieri’s veto message, 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.”
The bill defined a domestic partner as someone who was in an “exclusive, intimate and committed relationship” with the deceased person and had lived with them for at least a year. The bill also said the couple had to be financially “interdependent” by joint mortgage, shared credit card or domestic partnership contract.
Gov. Carcieri said the bill would allow the decisions of a “partner” of a year to take precedence over “traditional family members.” He said a “one year time period is not a sufficient duration to establish a serious bond between two individuals.”
Rep. Segal said Carcieri took his opposition to same-sex marriage too far. He and Sen. Perry plan to override the veto.
Segal also said, “‘I think the man is heartless and this has become a bad joke that has carried on for far too long.”
Even in death we get NOTHING!
I think that gay people should leave their spouses in the morgue and let the state pay for the burials until it is Bankrupt.
Our nephew Shane and his girlfriend Maggie eloped yesterday in Atlanta. We are very happy for them and will see them on Thanksgiving at Charlotte and Randy's house.
A year ago tomorrow Kevin's brother Shawn married Kim in San Jose. Kevin arrived in California the day Proposition 8 passed to celebrate his brother's happiness. This week we got to watch people a thousand miles away vote on the civil rights of their fellow citizens in the state of Maine.
So, since we have lived in Nashville we have celebrated our nephew Billy's wedding, Shawn's, Shane's, and in June next year Megan and Ryan will be married. My sister and her boyfriend Bob eloped also.
If, suppose, I died tomorrow Kevin would be left alone, lose his Medical Insurance, forfeit my pension, and have to ask my family's permission to bury me.
Each time we celebrate the union of those we love we quietly get to reflect on just what the implications are for us. We have only been together for 18 years. Collectively more than all our newly married loved ones combined as far as the time they have been together prior to getting married. There has been no party or anniversary wishes. No invitations to send out or thank you notes to write.
But we have each other for as long as we are alive and perhaps one day somebody will "allow" us the same basic civil rights as the people in our lives have.
As you know we love our families dearly and support them all and share in their joy each time a milestone occurs. It would be nice to invite them all to share in our joy but we have decided that we will wait until we can do it legally rather than do something symbolic. They all treat us as though we are married so it would really just be a technicality anyhow. Oh, and then there are the 1,200 legal rights we would enjoy in addition to a new toaster and a few gift cards.
by making it illegal for you to divorce!
I am looking into getting a Referendum on the ballot to make Divorce illegal in Davidson County in Tennessee. Marriage is a right and not a privilege. It should be treated as such.
In the Judao-Christian tradition, barring anyone's personal beliefs it should be illegal, based on Christianity and the tenets of most Christian faiths to divorce.
What God has created let no man tear asunder........It doesn't matter if you are Jewish, Muslim, Agnostic, or Atheist. Your rights will be decided on by the religion of the majority. There is no Separation of Church and State and I want to help you get into heaven when the time comes for you to meet your maker.
I am looking into starting a Petition Drive to get this on the ballot in Nashville. I am researching wording for petitions and the process involved in making this happen. I will stand in front of large Christian Churches with petitions and then also go to Gay gathering spots to ensure getting enough signatures to get a referendum on the ballot.
Additionally I would like to make it illegal to remarry if you are already divorced. If you can't get it right the first time you should not get a second chance given so many people are not legally allowed to marry. That would be a gross abuse of a right that others are not permitted to exercise.
This is the third time I had to post these and delete them and repost. Vox is pissing me off badly. I have spent half the day catching up and the reason I am hardly posting is because Vox is really pissing me off. But they are cute, aren't they?
We are opening a new 141 bed Critical Care Tower to house some of the worst cases we face daily in medicine. It has all the bells and whistles and will be the best of it's kind anywhere. It will support our Level One Trauma Center and our busy Emergency Department ( to be featured in three episodes of Life in the ER in January).
The beds are outrageously expensive and high tech. The charts are computerized and not hand written so there will be far fewer errors in reading these charts.
Our Informatics are the best in the country and we are the "Most Wired" hospital again for about 10 years running.
There is a new Bariatric program for extra large patients. There are more and more 600 pound plus people and they frequently need special medical attention. We have rooms and lifts and furnishings for these large patients and special transport equipment.
This facility opens in two weeks and will only mean we will be busier. We will be less likely to go on Diversion for lack of room. We will have more people brought in from all over the region.
This new 10 story tower is all about saving lives. Using Best Practices we will hopefully make a positive difference in many peoples lives. Non-patients will stay overnight in each room to test the amenities. This is life saving at it's best.
We helped Miss Jessie move this weekend and went over today to finish off a few things. When we got home we took Tater for a ride and went to Mount Olivette, a cemetery in Nashville that is very old and very historic.
I love going to cemeteries in the fall. It's like going to an antique shop where nothing is for sale or a museum nobody else goes to.
My favorite time is in the fall when the leaves are changing and falling and the views are more vast and colorful. The serenity is astounding.
Take a walk with me. Don't worry. Nobody will see us. Or at least we won't see them...........If we're lucky!
At around the minute mark my cousin Tom is interviewed by John Oliver for The Daily Show from the Equality March on Washington this past weekend. I'm glad somebody covered it. It didn't seem to get as much attention as the Tea Baggers even though there were more people attending. Maybe it's because we didn't try to claim there were two million people there. We actually let the pictures speak for themselves.
Anywhoo. My cousin Tom on The Daily Show:
He has glasses and a moustache and a black shirt with other shirts on it. He looks like Gertrude Stein but has a smaller moustache.
(Miami, Fl.) The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida today rejected Lambda Legal’s lawsuit filed against Jackson Memorial Hospital on behalf of Janice Langbehn, the Estate of Lisa Pond and their three adopted children who were kept apart by hospital staff for eight hours as Lisa slipped into a coma and died.
“The court’s decision paints a tragically stark picture of how vulnerable same-sex couples and their families really are during times of crisis,” said Beth Littrell, Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office based in Atlanta. “We hope that because of Janice’s courage to seek justice for her family in this case that more people better understand the costs of antigay discrimination. This should never happen to anyone.”
While on a family cruise leaving from Miami, Lisa Pond, a healthy 39 year-old, suddenly collapsed. She was rushed to Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital with her partner Janice and three children following close behind. There, the hospital refused to accept information from Janice about her partner’s medical history. Janice was informed that she was in an antigay city and state, and she could expect to receive no information or acknowledgment as Lisa’s partner or family.
A doctor finally spoke with Janice telling her that there was no chance of recovery. Other than one five minute visit that was arranged by a Catholic priest at Janice’s request to perform last rites, and despite the doctor’s acknowledgement that no medical reason existed to prevent visitation, neither Janice – who provided the hospital with a medical Power of Attorney document — nor their children were allowed to see Lisa until nearly eight hours after their arrival.
Soon after Lisa’s death, Janice tried to get her death certificate in order to get life insurance and Social Security benefits for their children. She was denied both by the State of Florida and the Dade County Medical Examiner.
Today’s ruling comes after the Public Health Trust of the Miami Dade County, the governing body of Jackson Memorial Hospital, filed a motion to dismiss the case. The court ruled that the hospital has neither an obligation to allow their patients’ visitors nor any obligation whatsoever to provide their patients’ families, healthcare surrogates, or visitors with access to patients in their trauma unit. The court has given the Langbehn-Pond family until Oct. 16 to review the ruling and consider all legal options.
Beth Littrell, Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office in Atlanta is lead counsel on the case for Lambda Legal. She is joined by co-counsel Donald J. Hayden of Baker & McKenzie, LLP.
Dear Janice and kids<
I am heartsick and disgusted. I thank you for your personal sacrifice and I feel your loss every time I see your names in the news. I hope Lambda keeps fighting and I hope this rats nest of a Hospital gets what they have coming to them.
Myke
send the family your thoughts:
And let the Government know while you are at it!
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
