The New Hampshire Senate today voted 13 to 11 to approve a bill providing for equal marriage rights for gay couples. The New Hampshire House approved a same-sex marriage bill on March 26. The new version, passed by the Senate, must now go back to the House for concurrence. That vote will likely take place next week.It was a dramatic victory for New Hampshire and marks the third time a state legislature - behind California and Vermont - has approved equal marriage rights bill. (California did so twice but was vetoed.) The Democratic governor, John Lynch, has said he opposes same-sex marriage but has backed off such statements more recently. If the bill survives, New Hampshire will become the fifth state in the nation to offer marriage licenses to same-sex couples the same as straight couples -and the fourth to do so in the past year.
Read the rest here.
NYTimes report here.
And meanwhile in Maine:
AUGUSTA — A bill that would allow same-sex marriage in Maine is in the hands of the Legislature following an 11-2-1 vote Tuesday by the Judiciary Committee to support the measure.
As it has since it was introduced by Sen. Dennis Damon, D-Trenton, the bill, LD 1020, triggered strong emotions. One woman who opposed the measure even had to be escorted out of the hearing room Tuesday because of her loud objections over the gavel of Senate Chairman Lawrence Bliss, D-South Portland. The 11-2-1 vote constitutes a recommendation of "Ought to Pass" to the Legislature.
Read the rest here.
4 comments:
Cheers to New Englanders for doing it the right way - through the legislature, and not the courts.
And cheers to California ... who "did it" through the legislature ... TWICE ... and had "it" vetoed by their governor.
Cheers to anybody who goes through the legal means provided by our nation, whether courts, legislature or electorate!
California has supported gay marriage in the legistlature and in the courts. The only place it has lost is in the mob.
The same ones who supported anti-miscegenation laws, one presumes.
Post a Comment