Category: New Hampshire

New Hampshire House rejects bills aimed at repealing gay marriage

LGBTQ Nation • Wednesday, February 17, 2010 • Filed under: Marriage Equality, New Hampshire • Comments (0)

New Hampshire’s House rejected a pair of anti-gay marriage bills on Wednesday.

The House voted 201-135 to kill a proposed constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Supporters needed 60 percent of the House to place it on the November ballot.

Later in the day, the House voted 210-109 to reject a second bill, this one sought to repeal the state’s 6-week-old law legalizing same-sex marriage.

From the New Hampshire Union Leader:

Rep. Robert Thompson, D-Manchester who married his partner on Jan. 2, asked the House, “How has my marriage impacted upon your marriage or how has it diminished the value of your marriage?”

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

NH lawmaker apologizes for claiming gay sex being taught in public schools

LGBTQ Nation • Wednesday, February 17, 2010 • Filed under: New Hampshire • Comments (0)

Elliott

New Hampshire State Rep. Nancy Elliott apologized Tuesday and withdrew her claim that gay sex was being taught to fifth graders in Nashua public schools.

From the Nashua Telegraph:

“I would like to apologize to the Judiciary Committee, the Nashua public schools and its employees and the speaker as well as anyone else affected by what I said,’’ Elliott said, reading from a prepared statement at the beginning of a House Judiciary Committee meeting. “I will try much harder in the future to verify fully my statement.”

Last week, Elliott graphically described gay sex as “wriggling around in excrement,” and claimed it is being taught to 5th graders as something they “may want to try.”

The testimony was captured on video and posted to You Tube, where is was distributed on websites and blogs worldwide. In case you missed it…

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

New Hampshire House to vote on two anti-gay marriage bills this week

LGBTQ Nation • Tuesday, February 16, 2010 • Filed under: New Hampshire • Comments (0)

New Hampshire’s House is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a pair of anti-gay marriage bills.

One is a bill, sponsored by Rep. L. Mike Kappler, which would repeal the state’s six-week-old law legalizing gay marriage.

The other is a proposed constitutional amendment, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Itse, which would state that “the state shall only recognize the union of one man and one woman as marriage.” Continue reading…

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

NH lawmaker describes gay sex in graphic anti-gay marriage statement

LGBTQ Nation • Friday, February 12, 2010 • Filed under: New Hampshire • Comments (2)

New Hampshire state Rep. Nancy Elliott wants to repeal same-sex marriage because “we’re talking about taking the penis of a man and putting it in the rectum of another man and wriggling it around in excrement. And you have to think, would I allow that to be done to me?”

And to the other lawmakers present, Elliott asked: “Would you let that happen to you?”

According to Elliott, now that same-sex marriage is legal in her state, “they are now teaching it in the public school. They are showing our fifth graders how they can actually perform this kind of sex… and they are saying this is normal, and they are saying this is something that you, as a 5th grader, may want to try,” citing a call from a Nashua parent. Continue reading…

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

Just weeks after legalizing gay marriage, new efforts seek to repeal NH law

LGBTQ Nation • Tuesday, January 19, 2010 • Filed under: Marriage Equality, New Hampshire • Comments (0)

Three weeks after New Hampshire legalized same-sex marriage, opponents are asking the House to repeal the law and let voters amend the constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman.

Couples gather for midnight ceremonies January 1, 2010 when NH legalized gay marriage.

The House Judiciary Committee is holding hearings on two Republican-sponsored proposals that many expect the House to reject when they are brought to the floor in the next few weeks.

One is a bill, sponsored by Rep. L. Mike Kappler, which would repeal same-sex marriage and the state 2007 civil union law.

The other is the constitutional amendment, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Itse, which would state that “the state shall only recognize the union of one man and one woman as marriage.”

For former Judiciary Committee member Brandon Browne, D-Dover, the passage of the equal marriage bill in 2009 was “a strong step forward for equal civil, religious, and individual rights,” and he opposes any legislation which would represent a “step back” from what he considers progress.

For a constitutional amendment to become law in new Hampshire, it needs 3/5 approval in the House and Senate and 2/3 approval from the voters.

Democrats hold a firm majority in the NH statehouse, and appear eager to dispose of the gay marriage debate and other controversial measures early in the session to avoid lingering discussion in this election year.

Gay marriage opponents know their chances of success are slim at this point, but are looking to the November election in hopes Republicans will regain control in Concord, and succeed then in repealing the law.

New Hampshire’s law legalizing gay marriage took effect Jan. 1. New Hampshire joined Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Vermont in allowing the unions.

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

Gay couples exchange vows on capital steps as NH legalizes same-sex marriage

LGBTQ Nation • Friday, January 1, 2010 • Filed under: Marriage Equality, New Hampshire • Comments (0)

Gay and lesbian couples rushed to marry in New Hampshire on Friday when at the stroke of midnight it became the fifth U.S. state to allow same-sex marriage, reversing some setbacks for the polarizing national movement.

Olin and Carl Burkhart wed on the steps of the state capital in Concord.

According to Reuters, about 150 people gathered in the state capital of Concord, in temperatures of about 21 degrees, to witness the marriages of about a dozen gay and lesbian couples by a justice of the peace as the New Year dawned.

New Hampshire passed its marriage equality law last June amid an emotional national debate.

Gov. John Lynch signed the gay marriage bill into law just two years after he had signed a similar bill legalizing same-sex civil unions.

Couples who previously joined with a civil union can apply for a conversion to marriage or a new marriage license, but all civil unions will automatically convert to marriages on January 1, 2011.

New Hampshire joins Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and Iowa in permitting full marriage equality for same-sex couples. Washington, D.C., is also on track for approval.

New York state lawmakers voted against gay marriage last month. In Maine, where a state law that would have allowed the nuptials, was turned back in a referendum in November. A same-sex marriage bill is foundering in New Jersey, and in California, gay marriage was overturned in a popular vote in 2008.

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

New Year brings marriage equality to New Hampshire gay couples

LGBTQ Nation • Thursday, December 31, 2009 • Filed under: Marriage Equality, New Hampshire • Comments (0)

New Hampshire’s LGBTQ community is preparing for a different type of New Year’s celebration tonight, where in just a few hours many same-sex couples plan to exchange vows on the steps of the State House in Concord.

At 12:01 a.m. Friday morning, New Hampshire becomes the fifth U.S. state to legalize gay marriage.

While gays in the state have had the right to civil unions for two years, the legislation eliminates differences between gay and heterosexual unions.

Local media outlets have praised New Hampshire’s embrace of marriage equality, including this post from the Concord Monitor:

New Hampshire’s new marriage law takes effect as gay marriage and gay rights are being debated across the country and across the globe. And for every step forward, it seems, comes another step backward – toward discrimination and worse.

History, of course, shows us that civil rights movements take time. The opposition can be persistent and sometimes ugly. Progress can seem achingly slow. In that context, New Hampshire’s largely civil debate and quick vote to expand equal rights stands out as brave and forward-thinking and just.

Gov. John Lynch signed the gay marriage bill into law in June, about two years after he had signed a similar bill legalizing same-sex civil unions.

When the gay marriage law goes into effect, couples who previously joined with a civil union can apply for a conversion to marriage or a new marriage license, but all civil unions will automatically convert to marriages on January 1, 2011. The state will no longer issue civil union licenses after today.

Officials began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples on October 3 in anticipation of the law taking effect January 1, 2010. New Hampshire joins Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont and Connecticut, which already allow same-sex marriage.

Earlier this month, the District of Columbia approved a marriage equality bill, and is on track to become the sixth municipality to allow gay marriage as early as March.

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

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