Four states have made it legal for persons of the same sex to marry -- Iowa, Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Now it looks like there may soon be a fifth state to legalize gay marriages. On Wednesday, the New Hampshire senate approved a bill that would legalize same-sex marriages by a vote of 13 to 11. The state's House of Representatives had already approved the bill last March 26th.
The bill must now go to a Senate-House conference committee, because the Senate added an amendment to the House version. The amendment gave clergy the right to refuse to officiate at same-sex ceremonies, and allowed couple to keep the words "bride" and "groom" on marriage licenses or simply use the word "spouse". It is expected that the House would accept the amendment.
That leaves it all up to the governor of New Hampshire, John Lynch. The governor has said in the past that he would prefer to leave marriage to heterosexuals only, but it is not known whether he will veto the bill or not. A recently released state poll showed that 55% of the state's residents approve of same-sex marriage, while only 39% oppose it, so the governor might bend to the will of the people.
It has been obvious for a while now that same-sex marriages would some day be approved in this country. Each year the polls show more people in favor of it. Currently, slightly less than 50% of the people in America approve of it. When you add those in favor of civil unions, the number jumps up to about 69%.
The fact is that a person either believes in equality of rights for all citizens or not. If you believe in equal rights, then you cannot exclude any group of people from participating in those rights.
Some religious fundamentalists claim that allowing homosexuals to marry would somehow harm the institution of marriage. But when asked, they have never been able to explain exactly how that would harm marriage in general or any marriage in specific.
That same argument was used 50 years ago to deny interracial marriages. The argument wasn't true then, and it's not true now. A couple of other people getting married, regardless of their sex, will do nothing to harm anyone else's marriage or the institution of marriage.
I applaud the legislators of New Hampshire. I hope their governor has the courage to do the right thing and sign the bill.
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