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

VOTE

The original punishments — including standing on the gallows for an hour with a noose around the neck — have been softened to a $1,200 fine, yet some lawmakers think it's time for the 200-year-old crime of adultery to come off New Hampshire's books.

Seven months after the state approved gay marriage, lawmakers will consider easing government further from the bedroom with a bill to repeal the adultery law.

"We shouldn't be regulating people's sex lives and their love lives," state Rep. Timothy Horrigan said. "This is one area the state government should stay out of people's bedrooms."

Horrigan, D-Durham, and state Rep. Carol McGuire, R-Epsom, have teamed up on legislation to repeal the law.

Horrigan signed on because he believes it continues New Hampshire's efforts toward marriage equality. In June, lawmakers voted to legalize gay marriage — a law that takes effect Jan. 1.

"We shouldn't be in the business of regulating what consenting adults do with each other," Horrigan said. ...

McGuire, the prime sponsor, believes the moral battle over adultery should be fought under the state's civil divorce laws. The bill would leave adultery as a cause in divorces not filed under the no-fault provision of the statute.

Labels: adultery, culture, divorce, gay marriage, Lawrence v. Texas, New Hampshire

VOTE

Same-sex couples who hope to marry in New Hampshire will remain in limbo for now, after the House yesterday narrowly voted down an amendment that Gov. John Lynch had termed crucial to winning his support for legalizing gay marriage in New Hampshire.

The fight isn't over: After nixing the Lynch amendment 188-186, the House yesterday voted to seek a House-Senate committee to hammer out a compromise. The Lynch amendment spelled out the rights of religious groups and their employees to refuse to partake in same-sex weddings. Backers of same-sex marriage broadcast optimism last night that an agreement could be reached. ...

Lynch's language provided that religious organizations and their employees can refrain from participating in any wedding that violates their faith without fear of lawsuits or state-imposed penalty. Opponents of same-sex marriage attacked the Lynch amendment as rushed, incomplete or unnecessary, saying it would provide no protections that aren't already provided constitutionally or in state law. Supporters said the language would clarify such protections.

Labels: gay marriage, New Hampshire, religious liberty

VOTE

...Forcing clergy to officiate at gay weddings is not an issue, as informed advocates on both sides know. Certainly forcing them to do so "in violation of their [constitutional] right to free exercise of religion" has never been on the table. This provision, on its face, restates protection already guaranteed in the state and federal constitutions. It might, I suppose, be interpreted to exempt religious objectors from the otherwise neutral requirement to officiate at any weddings recognized under state law, which might not be an unconstitutional imposition under Employment Div. v. Smith.

But even if it accomplishes that, the provision is narrower than the religious-liberty protection included in Connecticut's SSM bill last week and much narrower than that proposed last week by five prominent religious-liberty advocates. Whether any additional protection is really needed in an SSM bill, as opposed to state and federal antidiscrimination laws, is a separate question.

Labels: gay marriage, New Hampshire, religious liberty

VOTE

The New Hampshire Senate voted narrowly on Wednesday to legalize same-sex marriage, paving the way for the state to potentially become the fifth in the nation — and the third this month — to allow gay couples to wed.

The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 13 to 11 in favor of the bill, but only after a last-minute amendment strengthened language granting legal protections for religious groups and organizations that do not want to perform or help carry out same-sex marriages.

The House, which approved the marriage bill by a seven-vote margin last month, must vote on the Senate’s amended version. But supporters and opponents predicted that version would pass the House, which is more liberal and was more enthusiastic about same-sex marriage from the start.

It is unclear whether Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, will veto the bill or whether the new language will persuade him to endorse it. The bill probably cannot gain enough support in either house for an override, so its fate almost certainly rests with Mr. Lynch.

The governor has consistently opposed same-sex marriage, but he could also let the bill become law without his signature. Mr. Lynch did not reveal his intentions after the Senate’s vote but restated his belief that the state’s two-year-old civil-union law provides sufficient rights and protections to gay couples.

Labels: gay marriage, New Hampshire

VOTE

The House has voted to make New Hampshire the third state allowing gays to marry two years after they granted them the right to enter into civil unions.

The House voted 186-179 to send the bill to the Senate. The first attempt to pass the bill fell one vote short, but opponents were unable to kill it. The House then reconsidered and passed the measure.

Labels: gay marriage, New Hampshire

VOTE