Gay marriage bill passed by Senate

Union Leader ^ | April 29, 2009 | Tom Fahey

[DesertRenegade]

A bill legalizing same-sex marriage in New Hampshire passed the Senate today on a 13-11 vote.

The bill, amended on the Senate floor, draws a distinction between civil and religious marriage, and says that any two individuals have a right to join together in a civil marriage.

Last week Senate Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Deborah Reynolds, D-Reynolds, opposed the bill and voted with a committee majority that it should be killed. She said voters in her district told her they favor the legislation, and urged the Senate to vote for an amendment that was drawn up Tuesday night.

She said the wording “gives everyone in the state the right to seek a civil marriage … This is a compromise that is respectful to both sides in this debate and meets our shared goals of equality in state laws for all the people of New Hampshire. The people of this sate share the core values of equality for all, tolerance and acceptance regardless of our differences”

Republicans voted in a block against the measure, joined by Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester.

Sen. Matthew Houde, D-Lebanon, said many younger voters in the state have already concluded that same-sex marriage is acceptable, and are waiting for lawmakers to catch up to them.

“This is not a question of ‘if’ for me. It’s a question of ‘when.’ We should be eager to be on the right side of this issue,” Houde said.

Sen. Robert Letourneau, R-Derry, urged senators to reject the bill and move more slowly. "The Senate owes the people its prudence," he said.

The bill, HB 436, does not require any religious clergy to officiate at a same-sex marriage ceremony. Supporters of the bill have argued that marriage is a civil function that does not infringe on religious practice.

Opponents said gay marriage will lead to dissolution of traditional family life and societal norms.

Civil unions already sealed under existing law would convert to marriage on Jan. 1, 2011 unless couples act to change their relationship sooner.

It’s not clear how Gov. John Lynch will handle the bill. He has he said thinks the word marriage should be reserved for a traditional heterosexual relationship. He has argued that the state’s civil unions law already protects the rights of gay and lesbian couples.

Nothing requires Lynch to sign the bill into law. He can let it take effect without his signature once it arrives on his desk.

The bill passed the House, 186-179, in late March.

New Hampshire would become the fifth state in the country to legalize same sex marriage, behind Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and Iowa.

The bill came to the Legislature only one year after a law allowing civil unions between same-sex couples took effect.

The two sides in the debate released polls this week that bolstered their position. A University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll, commissioned by the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition, found 55 percent of respondents would approve of civil gay marriages.

The conservative Cornerstone Policy Research-Action found consensus against gay marriage in a mass phone poll of 150,000 residents. Results varied among nine Senate districts, CPR-Action said but the trend was clear.

[DesertRenegade]

What in the world is happening to our society? Every society that has embraced homosexuality and pedophilia (like the ancient Greeks and Romans) has collapsed soon after.

[DuncanWaring]

... any two individuals have a right to join together in a civil marriage.

Why just two?

Can I marry my mother? My father? My daughter?

If not, why not?

[OCCASparky]

NH PING!

Damn libs have made turned "Live Free or Die" from a motto into a punchline.

FreepMail me if you want on or off this list.

[Past Your Eyes]

That idiot Deb Reynolds is (sick sound) my senator. When she says her people want it, I’m sure than means she went over to the bar at the Woodstock Inn where all the queers hang out and took a poll. Maybe she asked Ray Burton. He spends a lot of time there with his “friends”.

[OCCASparky]

I know Ray Buckey was sure pulling hard for it (no pun intended).

[scripter]

Can I marry my mother? My father? My daughter? If not, why not?

Excellent questions indeed.

[Commander X]

I think the end times are here!

[andy58-in-nh]

As with the people who comprise them, every society is born with an expiration date. Eventually they wear out and can no longer defend themselves against the ravages of time and nature. I think we’re on the Back Nine.

[mkleesma]

This is not the same state I moved to back in the early 90’s, having escaped socialism in Canada.
I don't recognize this place anymore, so I'm packing up the family and getting out. Heading down South, where conservatives are still welcome.

[FreedomFerret]

State by State, we’re falling faster and faster...

[newguy357]

... any two individuals have a right to join together in a civil marriage.

Why just two?

This needs to be asked again and again. It is mind-boggling that they have the gall to keep saying "any two individuals," which is entirely arbitrary once you've decided to throw away millennia-old definitions.

I had a girl at work once ask me (a few years ago) why I opposed gay marriage. When I pointed out that you couldn't legitimately limit it to two people if we allow gay marriage, she said, "Well, traditionally marriage has been between two people." To which I replied the obvious "traditionally it has been between a man and a woman." Pause.... ... ... "Good point."

[DuncanWaring]

The homosexual faction claims they have a “right” to marry.

Marriage has never been a “right”.

It’s been an obligation undertaken by two people prior to engaging in activity which might reasonably be expected to produce offspring, in order to maximize the liklihood that said offspring will survive to the age of self-sufficiency.

No activity by any homosexual couple can reasonably be expected to produce offspring; the concept of homosexual “marriage” is null and void.

[chimera]

Why just two people? If you're going to throw out ages-old conventions, why limit marriage to just between two people? Why not let you marry your dog, or a sheep, or a goat, or a horse? If anything goes, why not?

Throw it all right back in their ugly faces. Make them tell you why not these things if they're going to play the "Why not?" game on gay marriage.

[LibLieSlayer]

NH... “Live under satan or die”.

LLS

[rhinohunter]

Heading down South, where conservatives are still welcome.

Nice thought, but it is only a matter of time before SCOTUS "discovers" a right to gay marriage in the US Constitution and imposes it nationwide. I suspect it will happen sometime before the "fresh prince of bill ayres" leaves office.

[Antoninus]

Sen. Matthew Houde, D-Lebanon, said many younger voters in the state have already concluded that same-sex marriage is acceptable, and are waiting for lawmakers to catch up to them. “This is not a question of ‘if’ for me. It’s a question of ‘when.’ We should be eager to be on the right side of this issue,” Houde said.

You'll notice this exact talking point has been showing up on FR a lot lately.

Mark well the crypto-trolls who use it....

[longtermmemmory]

this is no compromise.

this is just American Bar Association doctrine doublespeak.

they want to make all marriage a “civil union” so it can be defined an limited by legislative determination. Marriage in the traditional context is OUTSIDE of legislative limitations and is broadly construed in the laws.

This is just the ABA’s effort to remove marriage from the legal domain. IOW no marriage under the law just these sham civil unions regardless of you personal orgasm preferences.

[windsorknot]

The Highest Court is not of this earth, and it will never recognize homosexual "marriages".

[OCCASparky]

I think we’re on the Back Nine.

Back 9? Try the 19th, having a cold one while the whole place burns down and goes apes**t around us.

[OCCASparky]

This is just the ABA’s effort to remove marriage from the legal domain. IOW no marriage under the law just these sham civil unions regardless of you personal orgasm preferences.

Except when one wants to get a divorce, of course. Sure would have helped if I didn't have to use one during mine.

[The_Repugnant_Conservative]

Can I marry my mother? My father? My daughter?

Thats a good way to beat the Estate Tax. Marry a Parent before they die. And then Marry your Child before you go. The Hacks will have a complete meltdown over the possibility of no more Estate Taxes.

[DuncanWaring]

Marry both at the same time. And your grandchildren, as they come along.

That way you minimize the problems associated with untimely deaths.

[DuncanWaring]

There was a time the homosexuals were screaming “Get the government out of our bedrooms!”

Now they’re screaming the opposite.

[longtermmemmory]

under the aba your “civil union” would be disolved, the law would not concern itself with “marriage” as marriage would just have the same meaning as just living together.

[andy58-in-nh]

Back 9? Try the 19th, having a cold one while the whole place burns down and goes apes**t around us.

It sure feels that way. The inmates are not only running the asylum, they've gone condo and are selling time-shares to anyone with a pile of someone else's money.

[xmission]

I am so sick of these jackasses usurping power and doing whatever the hell they want.

I say we push for plural marriage right now. Can we all put something together quickly? Anyone here a lawyer?

[OCCASparky]

Sen. Matthew Houde, D-Lebanon, said many younger voters in the state have already concluded that same-sex marriage is acceptable, and are waiting for lawmakers to catch up to them. “This is not a question of ‘if’ for me. It’s a question of ‘when.’ We should be eager to be on the right side of this issue,” Houde said.

Is it just me or is this an overly juvenile response to a difficult (or not so difficult) question..."But MOOOOOMMMMM! All the COOL kids are doing it!!!"

[massmike]

Maybe the Old Man in the Mountain collapsing a few years ago was an omen.

[Redleg Duke]

I would like to see a list of those who voted for the “fudge-packers”.

[MSF BU]

The good news is that there has to be a compromise between the House and Senate versions and there may be a problem with that.

[massmike]

If they had a (D) by their name,they voted for the gays.

[steve-b]

Sen. Matthew Houde, D-Lebanon, said many younger voters in the state have already concluded that same-sex marriage is acceptable, and are waiting for lawmakers to catch up to them.

This is the key point. The short term is pretty much a lost cause for the GOP; they therefore need to figure out how to retool their message for the next generation.

[OCCASparky]

All the Dems voted for it except for Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester.

Here's a list of the Senators:

http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/senate/senatemembers.asp

You have to click on the individual members to find party affiliation.

[Redleg Duke]

I live in Amherst. I am relieved that my Senator, Peter Bragdon, voted against it.

[massmike]

Isn’t it funny how this didn’t happen BEFORE the election last November?