Nevada Governor’s Domestic Partner Bill Veto Isn’t Conservative

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons has announced he’ll veto a domestic partnership bill that would make it easier for same-sex couples to plan their estates, make medical decisions for their partners and establish community property recognition.  In a head-scratcher of a statement, Gibbons’ spokesman explained the planned veto, saying, “The governor believes that government has no business in your medicine chest or your bedroom.”

Well, exactly.  So why is Gibbons’ government inserting itself into the lives of Nevada’s gay and lesbian couples who simply want the legal tools necessary to care for one another like straight couples do?  What values does Gibbons uphold when he makes that more difficult for committed same-sex couples?

The bill in question, which was sponsored by Sen. David Parks, Nevada’s only openly gay legislator, passed easily in both the Nevada Assembly and Senate, but just shy of the two-thirds vote needed  to override a veto.  That means that even though the gay community has played by the rules and garnered the support of a clear majority of the people’s representatives in Carson City, they still won’t see the bill enacted.

Many Republicans are coming around on this issue as they realize that true conservatism is incompatible with intolerance toward gay and lesbian Americans.  They’re also evolving as a reaction to political reality.  More than two thirds of Americans now support legal recognition of same-sex couples in some form, and some national polls even show a majority favor full marriage rights.  The Nevada bill doesn’t even come close to that.

If a self-identified conservative like Gov. Gibbons can’t understand the value of promoting freedom, personal responsibility and familial stability among gay couples, maybe it’s time he started calling himself something else.

“Bigot” comes to mind.