Monday, January 04, 2010

Welcome New Hampshire. I think I Love You.


Well, while Carlos and I were toasting in 2010 with a glass--or two--of champagne, gay and lesbian couples in New Hampshire became the fifth state to recognize and perform same-sex marriages.

Welcome to the 21st century New Hampshire, maybe you could pass the word along to Maine, California, New York, and all those other backwards states when you see them.

So far, 39 couples had secured same-sex marriage licenses to use sometime in the new year. The state has been issuing the marriage licenses to LGBT couples since October 3, and, once a license is issued, couples have 90 days to tie the knot before it expires. Now, it may not sound like a lot, you know, 39 couples, but hey, it's New Hampshire, and there aren't a lot of folks up there anyway.

And, in my mind, 39 is better than none.

Governor John Lynch signed the gay marriage bill into law in June, just two years after he had signed a similar bill legalizing same-sex civil unions. With the gay marriage law in effect now, couples who were previously civil unionized [?] can apply for a new marriage license for the standard fee. LGBT couples who held civil unions can also apply for a conversion that would merge their civil union status into a marriage. But any New Hampshire civil union not converted by the end of 2010 will automatically change to a marriage on January 1, 2011.

like it or not, marriage is legal in New Hampshire. LGBT couples are part of America in New Hampshire. the Constitution speaks to us all.

In New Hampshire.

5 comments:

  1. I wonder how long it will take for a southern state to get on board

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  2. Let's see, it's 2010....so, multiply by....mmmm.....carry the one.....and....subtract six.....
    Yup, probably never!

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  3. There will be many more marriages to come throughout the year. Many GLBT people in NH are waiting for their yearly anniversaries to tie the knot. Hopefully, Stan and I will be married later this month and then we are going to have our official celebration in October, when our anniversary comes around. We don't mind if our marriage date and anniversary date are different.

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  4. We had about 600 civil unions in New Hampshire in the first year (2008)it became legal. The 39 licenses were issued before the law even came into effect. I think we'll have quite a few marriages by year's end.
    However, ALREADY, a Repub has submitted a bill in the House to repeal the Marriage bill. It doesn't take long for hate-mongers to start stirring the pot. We have to be better prepared than Maine for these attacks against our rights.

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