NH Republicans Vote To Replace Gay Marriage With Civil Unions Open to Siblings
When New Hampshire became the sixth state to legalize gay marriage in 2009, very few people were naïve enough to believe the issue had been put to rest for good. And while earlier this year New Hampshire Republicans demurred with regards to whether they would aggressively pursue repealing marriage equality in the Granite State, it was always a possibility.
This week, the State House Judiciary Committee approved a bill (HB 437) 11-6 that would repeal gay marriage in the state. In its stead, gay couples could enter into Civil Unions. So, by the way, could brothers and sisters. Essentially, the committee voted to repeal full marriage equality and replace it with something so meaningless that even siblings could partake.
What’s so incredible about this is not that a committee voted to repeal gay marriage; quite the contrary, the State House has a Republican majority, and Republicans control the committee 13-4. What’s incredible is that the majority party has completely exceeded its mandate by pushing through a bill that is diametrically opposed to public opinion in the state of New Hampshire.
The most recent poll on gay marriage shows that 62 percent of New Hampshire residents oppose repealing gay marriage, while only 27 percent support repeal. Additionally, a Public Policy Polling survey from July showed that 51 percent support gay marriage, while only 38 percent opposed it. There is no question that public opinion in the Granite State is in favor of marriage equality – not civil unions, but full marriage equality.
New Hampshire Republicans, then, are merely pursuing a radical conservative agenda in spite of what their constituents actually believe.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of New Hampshire residents are out of work; the unemployment rate continues to hover around 5 percent, and while this number is significantly lower than the national average, unemployment clearly remains a large problem in the state. But Congressional Republicans have proven that they are more interested in reinstating discrimination than in tackling the serious problem of longterm unemployment.
That is why a bipartisan group, Standing Up for New Hampshire Families, has formed to pressure New Hampshire legislators to stop voting against equality and start voting for job creation. From the Boston Globe:
Standing Up for New Hampshire Families leaders told reporters that Republican lawmakers should focus on helping businesses create jobs and not on repealing the gay marriage law that has been in effect almost two years.
…Irena Goddard, chairwoman of the Hopkinton Republican committee, said she was born in the former communist Czechoslovakia. She called the repeal bill “misguided legislation” brought by people using scare tactics to push a social agenda instead of on ways to improve the economy.
I think it is great that a coalition has formed to draw attention to Congressional Republicans’ intransigence on the issue of gay marriage. It is especially encouraging that this is a bipartisan group – for while it is certainly Congressional Republicans who are making marriage repeal their social crusade du jour, it is significant that they do not even have the full backing of their own party on this issue.
No doubt Republicans will continue to attack marriage, regardless of any bipartisan coalition or even public opinion set clearly against them. We cannot take their assault on our rights sitting down: If you live in New Hampshire, contact your legislators and tell them to leave marriage alone and focus on getting New Hampshire back to work.
