Tagged: Gay Marriage

The 211-116 margin was a victory for gay rights advocates. It was also a shock to social conservatives, who thought a 3 to 1 GOP majority combined with a party platform that defines marriage as a between a man and women, would secure the bill’s passage. 

Deep into a debate that lasted 2 hours and included 10 separate votes, Kingston Republican David Welch stated what by then was plain: gay marriage is topic that divides House Republicans.

Ten North Country representatives were among those who voted Wednesday to kill a bill that would have repealed gay marriage. 

Only four North Country representatives voted to keep the repeal alive.

Two others were excused from voting.

As NHPR reported the Republican-controlled House decided to keep the state's gay marriage law in place on a 211 – 116 vote.

The House on Wednesday decided to keep the state's gay marriage law in place. 

Same-sex couples have been able to marry legally since 2009. 

The Republican-controlled House voted 211-116 against a repeal. 

Gov. John Lynch had pledged to veto the repeal bill if it had passed. The debate on the House floor took more than two hours. New Hampshire is one of eight states that allow gay marriage.

The House is expected to vote this afternoon on a measure that would repeal the State’s 2009 law that legalized same-sex marriage. 

There is a decidedly quiet mood outside the Statehouse today, as both opponents and supporters of gay marriage await an anticipated vote on a repeal.  The Republican-sponsored measure attempts to re-define marriage as between a man and a woman. The bill would allow for civil unions.

Statehouse observers expect a close vote, in part because of a strong libertarian streak that runs through many House Republicans.

About two-dozen members of the pro-gay marriage group Standing Up For New Hampshire Families held a news conference to urged the defeat of the bill slated for a vote in the House Wednesday. State Rep. Mike Ball, chairman of the Manchester Republican Committee, compared the repeal effort to a segregation law, and added he can’t back his party platform’s opposition to gay marriage.

"The Republican platform is wrong on that issue. That’s the bottom line. Much as I’d like to say we are a hundred percent right, on this one we are not right. This is a civil liberties issue."  

The House is expected to consider repealing same-sex marriage as early as Wednesday and half of 16 North Country representatives have said say they will vote against changing the law.

In October the House Judiciary Committee voted to undo the state’s gay marriage law and replace it with civil union .

The lead sponsor of the bill is Republican David Bates of Windham.

Three representatives from the North Country voted not to kill House Bill 1264 which would have allowed “an individual to choose not to provide accommodations, goods, or services for a marriage if doing so would violate his or her conscience or religious faith.”

It was proposed by Rep. Jerry Bergevin, a Republican from Hillsborough.

On June 3, 2009, Governor John Lynch signed a law that allowed gay marriage in the Granite State. A little less than 7 months later, the first wedding ceremonies began to be performed.  At the time, New Hampshire made history as the first state to pass a same-sex union bill without a court order or the threat of one.  But before the first "I do" was uttered, some groups and lawmakers vowed to pass legislation overturning the law.  Last year, bills were tabled to focus on the budget, but now this year several pieces of legislation are on the table and money on both sides of this interest is