New Hampshire same-sex marriage goes into effect tonight at 12:01am and, unlike Maine, it will be almost impossible to overturn. The New Hampshire constitution does not provide for the referendum process used in Maine to overturn Maine's same-sex marriage law. Amending the New Hampshire's constitution is extremely difficult. A 3/5 vote of each house of the General Court (state legislature) is required to send a proposed constitutional amendment to the people at the next biennial November election. A 2/3 vote of the qualified voters participating in an election is required to adopt a new amendment. The only other possibility is a constitutional convention which would need 3/5 of the delegates to send a proposed amendment to the voters which would also take 2/3 to pass. Both of these are extremely remote possibilities because, bottom line, at least 1/3 of New Hampshire's voters support same-sex marriage and everyone knows it. So, this is one battle which will not be fought. Of course, some die-hard homophobes are still trying to amend the New Hampshire constitution but they will not get far. In most other states it is much easier to overturn a court decision or a law passed by the legislature so New Hampshire represents a very limited strategy for success.

Labels: gay marriage, New Hampshire

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