New Hampshire Panel Recommends Against Repeal of Freedom to Marry

The Associated Press
February 10, 2010
A New Hampshire House committee Tuesday recommended against repealing the state's marriage equality law. The Judiciary Committee also voted Tuesday to recommend that the House kill a proposed constitutional amendment banning the freedom to marry. [Link]

NH Panel to consider Measures that would repeal Freedom to Marry

The Associated Press
February 9, 2010
The House Judiciary Committee will recommend today whether New Hampshire's five-week-old marriage equality law should be repealed and will also vote on whether to support a constitutional amendment denying the freedom to marry. Supporters of these anti-gay measures admit their chance of success is slim, but they want to keep the issue before voters in hopes Republicans will regain control of the Statehouse from Democrats in November. [Link]

NH House Expected to Reject Measures to Ban Freedom to Marry

The Associated Press
January 20, 2010
The N.H. House Judiciary Committee is holding hearings on proposed measures that would repeal the state's marriage equality law. Observers expect the House to reject the measures when they are brought to the floor in the next few weeks. [Link]

Two Randolph women wed, Bishop Gene Robinson blesses marriage

Berlin Reporter (NH)
January 6, 2010
Elizabeth "Betsy" Hess and the Rev. Eleanor "Ellie" McLaughlin, both of Randolph, were wed in a civil ceremony near the entrance to St. Barnabas Episcopal Church on High Street in Berlin, NH on Sataurday, January 2nd. The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the ninth Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire, blessed their rings and their Christian marriage at the altar. This was the first such wedding ceremony over which Bishop Robinson — who is the first openly gay diocesan bishop in the Anglican Communion — presided since marriage equality became legal in New Hampshire on New Year's Day. [Link]

NH State Rep: 'Let NH Vote' on Marriage

The Union Leader
January 5, 2010
A New Hampshire Republican state representative is leading an effort to bring an anti-gay constitutional amendment to voters this fall. The amendment would eliminate marriage equality in New Hampshire. [Link]

Same-sex Couples Marry in New Hampshire

CNN - CNN Newsroom
January 2, 2010
Don Lemon interviews Jeffrey Burr and Neil Blair, a gay couple who got married in New Hampshire on January 1, 2010, the first day that marriage equality took effect in the state. [Link]

Video: Freedom to Marry in New Hampshire

NBC - Weekend Today
January 2, 2010
Kevin Tibbles reports: "At the stroke of midnight on January 1st, New Hampshire became the fifth state to legalize marriage equality. The law had only been in effect a few minutes when about 15 midnight marriages took place. [Link]

Same-sex couples to celebrate New Year saying 'I do' in NH, 5th state to legalize Freedom to Marry

Los Angeles Times
December 31, 2009
Norma Love writes about several same-sex couples preparing to marry as New Hampshire's marriage equality law goes into effect at midnight. "Jeffry Burr and Neil Blair are just hours from their wedding, but there are no typical prenuptial jitters. After all, this is the third time they've exchanged vows." New Hampshire joins Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and Iowa on January 1, 2010 in legalizing the freedom to marry. [Link]

The Future of Marriage Equality in New Hampshire

Daily Kos
November 8, 2009
Laura Clawson discusses marriage equality in New Hampshire and concerns about its fate after the recent vote in Maine: "Those of us who want to see civil rights advanced have to be constantly vigilant, and get way out in front of any threat to equality." [Link]

LGBT Advocacy Group Holding Sessions on NH Marriage Equality Law

The Associated Press
November 2, 2009
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) is holding two free workshops on New Hampshire’s marriage equality law (which takes effect Jan. 1) to discuss what the new law means, how it works and answer questions for couples who are in civil unions or wonder if there is a waiting period. [Link]

Marriage licenses now available in NH for gay and lesbian couples

Boston Herald
October 8, 2009
Gay couples can now apply for marriage licenses in New Hampshire — though the unions can’t be performed until Jan. 1 when the state’s law legalizing the unions takes effect. (Link)

NOM Arrives In D.C. To Try and Keep Discriminatory DOMA

On Top Magazine

July 16, 2009

The nation's most vocal opponent of marriage equality has opened an office in the nation's Capitol to fight for the discriminatory so called Defense of Marriage Act or "DOMA." The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has been vociferous in its opposition to the freedom to marry victories this spring in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. The group says it will use its D.C. office to “stop any attempt to repeal” the anti-gay "DOMA" law which blocks marriages of gay couples from being recognized at the federal level. [Link]

Senator Leahy Supports DOMA Repeal

HRC Back Story
July 16, 2009
Senator Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, supports the federal government honoring marriages between same-sex couples. Sen. Leahy: “Well I think now that you have states that are voting for and having marriage equality – Vermont has, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, others, Connecticut – the Defense of Marriage Act is unnecessary, should be repealed.” [Link]

Respect carries rewards not measured in dollars

Business Insurance
July 6, 2009
A recent report by the Williams Institute concludes that the legalization of freedom to marry could hand New England states an economic advantage. The underlying research follows an idea that many employers embraced more than a decade ago: Equality attracts well-educated, creative professionals whose abilities drive company growth. In a world where competition is everything, local economies, like employers, need every advantage they can muster. But equality isn't just a business argument. Treating people with respect, no matter their differences, makes us all better human beings. [Link]

No Floor Vote for Freedom to Marry in Rhode Island

The Associated Press
June 28, 2009
Rhode Island seems almost certain to remain the only New England state that does not recognize gay marriage after measures legalizing same-sex unions stalled just before the part-time General Assembly ended the bulk of its annual work. This despite a poll released by Brown University last month which showed 60 percent of registered Rhode Island voters would support a law allowing gay couples to marry, and 75 would support a law allowing civil unions. [Link]

It is time for us to make marriage equality in Rhode Island a reality

Bay Windows
June 17, 2009
Earlier this month, the New Hampshire legislature took another step in our country’s ongoing struggle to ensure full equality for gays and lesbians by voting to permit same-sex couples in their state to legally enter into civil marriages. The vote makes New Hampshire the sixth state in the country - along with Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and Maine - to provide equal marriage rights to all its residents, and it now leaves Rhode Island as the only New England state that does not permit the freedom to marry. To me, the issue of marriage equality boils down to a question of basic fairness. [Link]

In Rhode Island, some wary as tide of marriage equality rises at border

The Boston Globe
June 15, 2009

Massachusetts and Connecticut legalized the freedom to marry as a result of judicial decisions in 2003 and 2008, while Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire followed this spring by legislative action. The slower pace in Rhode Island, where the state Senate voted last week to allow same-sex partners to make funeral arrangements, has frustrated some local activists, many of whom rallied outside the State House in Providence last weekend to call for immediate equality. "They still have a chance to be part of the vanguard," said attorney Karen L. Loewy, the Rhode Island point person for GLAD, which won the lawsuits in Massachusetts and Connecticut that legalized marriage equality in those states. "Rhode Island is well on its way." [Link]

Commentary: Obama absent on marriage equality

CNN International
June 10, 2009
William Jelani Cobb is associate professor of history at Spelman College and author of the forthcoming "Change Has Come: Barack Obama and the Meaning of Progress."

Last week Gov. John Lynch signed a bill making New Hampshire the sixth state to legalize marriage equality. It was a paradoxical moment. The new law is a reminder that freedom to marry is the civil rights issue of our era and just how far the movement for marriage equality has come. It also highlighted the unexpected and remarkable silence from the White House on this issue. [Link]

Religious Liberty and Marriage Equality: A Winning Strategy

The Washington Post
June 10, 2009
On Faith columnist Susan Brooks discusses the role of religious exemptions in the approval of marriage equality in New Hampshire: "Religious liberty is the key to civil equality and religious pluralism co-existing peacefully together in our very diverse country. Say it as loud and as often as you can...'liberty and justice for all.'" [Link]

Gay bishop rejoices in NH's marriage equality vote

The Associated Press
June 4, 2009
Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson sat in the front row of the gallery in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, hands clasped at times, praying for lawmakers to push a little green button that indicates a "yes" vote. In the end, there were 198 green lights to legalize gay marriage, and 176 red ones. "There are a lot of people standing here who, when we grew up, could not have imagined this," Robinson said. "You can't imagine something that is simply impossible. It's happened, in our lifetimes."[Link]