New Hampshire Senate Votes to Allow Same-sex Marriage
Related subjects: Denver Lessing, Gender Equality, Judicial Rulings, Legislation, Rights & Freedoms, U.S. Law, U.S. Politics Comments (0)
The New Hampshire state Senate voted today to officially recognize same-sex marriage in the state. The bill passed by a 13-11 vote, and must still pass the state House before being sent to Gov. John Lynch for signature. The Senate measure distinguishes between religious and civil marriage ceremonies, a provision which might be able to win support among more conservative opponents of gay marriage.
Gov. Lynch has said in the past he believes the word marriage refers specifically to a union between a man and a woman, but has not said he would veto legislation legalizing same-sex marriage. He is quoted as saying today, in response to the Senate vote “I still believe the fundamental issue is about providing the same rights and protections to same-sex couples as are available to heterosexual couples”.
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New Hampshire would become the 5th state in the Union to recognize same-sex marriages as legal, after Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont. Vermont was the first state where the legislature established the legality, overriding a governor’s veto. In the other three, the states’ Supreme Courts ruled that same-sex unions were legal and must be recognized.
The Associated Press reports:
In its debate on the bill last month, the House had rejected a measure that would have established civil and religious marriage licenses, though it didn’t define the difference.
The Senate version goes into much greater detail about the distinction between the two types of marriages.
“This bill recognizes the sanctity of religious marriage and the diversity of religious beliefs about marriage while still providing equal access to civil marriage to all New Hampshire citizens,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from Exeter.
The bill allows churches to decide whether they will conduct religious marriages for same-sex couples. Civil marriages would be available to both heterosexual and same-sex couples.
California has had various flirtations with same-sex marriage. The practice was first legalized in the city of San Francsico, then barred, pending a statewide ruling. The state’s Supreme Court then recognized the legality of same-sex marriages, prompting a wave of marriage-based travel to the state and thousands of same-sex marriages. But in the referendum known as Proposition 8, the public instituted a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
At present, as a result of Prop. 8, same-sex marriage is banned in California, but prominent voices across the state, including the Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, say the ban will be overturned in the courts as an unconstitutional violation of the “equal protection” clause of the US Constitution.
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