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Panel to vote on gay marriage repeal
CONCORD — The proposed repeal of the state's gay marriage law comes up for a vote by the House Judiciary Committee today.
The bill has been at the Legislature for nearly a year, but Republicans pushing for repeal agreed to put off their effort until 2012, while the Legislature focused on budget work. Come January, any bill that has been held will come to the full House for a vote.
The version of the repeal bill now pending, House Bill 437, passed by a 3-1 vote in a Judiciary subcommittee. It would leave in place the more than 1,500 same-sex marriages that have occurred since it took effect Jan. 1, 2010. The bill would replace marriage for gay couples with a form of civil union.
The bill states that it is intended to extend “rights and benefits to unmarried adults while reserving marriage to opposite-sex couples.”
There could be no same-sex marriages in the future. The bill says “marriage in New Hampshire is the legally recognized union of one man and one woman.”
The bill does not require any corporation, employer, individual, society or school to recognize civil unions, if it is against their moral or religious beliefs.
It exempts organizations and individuals from laws against discrimination in employment, housing, licensing and government grants.
The bill has been at the Legislature for nearly a year, but Republicans pushing for repeal agreed to put off their effort until 2012, while the Legislature focused on budget work. Come January, any bill that has been held will come to the full House for a vote.
The version of the repeal bill now pending, House Bill 437, passed by a 3-1 vote in a Judiciary subcommittee. It would leave in place the more than 1,500 same-sex marriages that have occurred since it took effect Jan. 1, 2010. The bill would replace marriage for gay couples with a form of civil union.
The bill states that it is intended to extend “rights and benefits to unmarried adults while reserving marriage to opposite-sex couples.”
There could be no same-sex marriages in the future. The bill says “marriage in New Hampshire is the legally recognized union of one man and one woman.”
The bill does not require any corporation, employer, individual, society or school to recognize civil unions, if it is against their moral or religious beliefs.
It exempts organizations and individuals from laws against discrimination in employment, housing, licensing and government grants.