Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri has
accepted an invitation to be the keynote speaker at an upcoming
fundraiser for the anti-gay group Massachusetts Family Institute
(MFI), The Providence Journal reported.
The group's 18th Annual
Fundraising Banquet is scheduled for October 15 in Newton,
Massachusetts.
Carcieri's participation has raised the
hackles of gay rights groups, including the recently formed Queer
Action of Rhode Island, which asked the Republican governor to cancel
the appearance.
“We find it appalling that you, the
governor to all people of [Rhode Island], would support the
fundraising efforts of an organization that advocates against the
lives of some R.I. citizens,” the group said in a letter addressed
to the governor. “By making this fundraising speech, the negative
message you will send to Rhode Island's gay community – especially
its younger members – is extremely harmful.”
On Wednesday, the governor defended
himself. “I don't believe in discrimination against anybody, I
never have. I have a conviction about what marriage should be
defined as,” Carcieri said during a radio interview on WPRO-AM.
“That's nothing new. People can disagree. I understand that, but,
you know, I have a right to my view as well.”
But the MFI objects to any pro-gay
legislation, including a transgender anti-discrimination bill
currently being debated by Massachusetts lawmakers. The group dubbed
the bill the “bathroom bill,” and called on lawmakers to flush
the bill that adds gender identity to the list of protected classes
down the toilet. They argue that the bill would invite sexual
predators into bathrooms, putting women and children in peril.
“DON'T WAIT UNTIL A WOMAN OR CHILD IS
ASSAULTED!,” the group says on their website. “Tell your state
representative to OPPOSE the Transgender Bill.”
Carcieri, who will be term-limited out
of office next year, remains a major obstacle to passing a gay
marriage bill in Rhode Island, which lawmakers have considered for
the last 12 years. The governor also backs an effort to place a gay
marriage ban in the Rhode Island Constitution. And in the spring, he
and his wife, Sue, joined the state's newly minted chapter of the
National Organization for Marriage, the nation's most vociferous
opponent of gay marriage.