PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A socially conservative governor who has fought for years against same-sex marriage in Rhode Island has slightly softened his stance by suggesting he may back a domestic partnership system offering legal protections for same-sex couples.

Republican Gov. Don Carcieri stridently opposes gay marriage, which remains illegal in Rhode Island, as well as civil unions.

But after meeting privately Nov. 12 with members of a gay rights group, Carcieri emerged from his Statehouse office and told reporters he would consider backing a domestic partnership system similar to an expansion approved earlier this month by voters in Washington state. It offers same-sex couples the right to use sick leave to care for a domestic partner, and rights related to adoption, child custody and child support.

“The important thing here was a broader discussion that ... hopefully could go somewhere that I think might deal with a lot of these situations short of what we call marriage,” he said.

It’s not the first time Carcieri has toyed with the idea.

During his re-election campaign in 2006, Carcieri told The Associated Press that he opposed gay marriage and civil unions designed specifically to benefit same-sex couples. He suggested he might support some protections for same-sex couples if they also benefited nontraditional households, for example, two widows living together to save money.

The governor never took any steps to implement such a system, although lawmakers have approved some piecemeal protections.

His proposal surprised gay rights supporters who as recently as Nov. 12 called Carcieri a bigot for vetoing legislation allowing same-sex couples the same right to plan the funerals of their late partners as married couples. Carcieri said the bills represented an erosion of the principles behind heterosexual marriage.

A letter Carcieri wrote to lawmakers contained another reference to a domestic partnership system.

“If the General Assembly believes it would like to address the issue of domestic partnership, it should place the issue on the ballot and let the people of the state of Rhode Island decide,” Carcieri wrote in a letter to lawmakers.

Lawmakers favoring gay marriage were surprised by the out-of-the-blue offer.

“I don’t know what to think,” said Democratic Rep. Gordon Fox, a gay man who serves as House majority leader. He and Carcieri agreed Friday to meet and discuss the proposal, although Fox said he has not been told any of the specifics.

“From the position he’s had, I think it’s been a big step,” Fox said.

It remains unclear whether the leading gay rights groups would support a domestic partnership program. Marriage Equality Rhode Island has been lobbying exclusively for gay marriage, abandoning an earlier strategy that focused on winning incremental legal protections to gradually build public support for gay unions.

Lawmakers have previously debated legislation that would have allowed gay unions short of marriage, but it contained a provision defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, a nonstarter for gay rights groups.

Jenn Steinfeld, the former executive director of Marriage Equality Rhode Island, said she was “baffled” by Carcieri’s suggestion. Steinfeld said she and her partner of nine years quickly began debating whether they would want a domestic partnership should it become legal.

“Making sure that our relationship is codified in law and protected is important to us,” Steinfeld said. At the same time, she was also reluctant because she ultimately wants gay marriage.

“When I look around the country, it appears that we’re coming to a national consensus that I’m uncomfortable with, which is same-sex families deserve equal protection but are somehow different.”