Lynch said, upon signing: "Today we're standing up for the liberties of same-sex couples by making clear they will receive the same rights, responsibilities, and respect under New Hampshire law."
Way to go, New Hampshire!
UPDATE 1: The New Hampshire House voted 198-176 to accept the Committee of Conference Report on H.B. 73 for marriage equality with religious protections.
The bill now goes before Governor John Lynch to sign.
Good for you, New Hampshire!
The New Hampshire State Senate voted today 14-10 to pass the equal marriage compromise bill, although rumor has it that the House is a harder sell.
Excuse me, but why do we have to sell anyone on the idea of non-discrimination and equality for all Americans? Seriously.
The compromise bill includes a provision that allows any religious institution to decide who they will marry.
Okay, that's not so bad, but I do believe that if marriage equality passes and these homophobic, bigoted, antiquated churches see gay dollars being spent elsewhere, they'll sing a different tune. Quite possibly a showtune, because we all know that the Dollar is the Almighty God to a lot of these churches.
Democratic Senator Beth Reynolds:
“The changes augment, buttress and bolster the rights of religious freedom and they strike the appropriate balance between two values that the people of New Hampshire support, equal rights for all and the right to religious freedom.’’
And who would have ever guessed this: all Democrats voted in favor of the bill; and all Republicans voted against it.
Still the same old GOP.
Let's hope the House passes it, and that Governor Lynch signs it as he has said he would.
Weddings and divorce are big money makers for the economy. Bigotry trumps greed with this.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed, wonder what the numbers are in the house there. Olbermann did a very witty comparison of the republican party now, to the whigs then sort of thing last night. It was brilliant, I'm pretty sure you'd have liked it.
ReplyDeletehoping for the best
ReplyDeleteThis leaves RI. It doesn't look like we're going to get anything this year. But I think a court challenge isn't out of the question, if only to get a Writ of Mandamus to force the vote in the house or senate.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I'm hoping for a Pox upon Governor Don Carcieri (Staphylococcus Fascitis or Flesh Eating Bacteria), Speaker William Murphy (A debilitating aneurysm) and upon Bishop Thomas J. Tobin (A nice staph infection of his genitalia)
Hurray!!
ReplyDelete