Update on Gov. Lynch Signing NH Marriage Equality Bill

Unite the Fight and many others have asked all to urge New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch to sign the marriage equality bill.

Sounds like he's listened.

As reported by the AP, Gov. Lynch will sign a bill to make his state the sixth to legalize gay marriage as soon as the Legislature makes some changes, which legislative leaders immediately said they would back.

Reuters reports that "the governor’s suggested changes would make clear that religious groups would not be required to perform gay weddings if their beliefs prohibited it, and that they would not be held liable in court for refusing such services."

Reuters also reports, "The language would also make clear that social groups and other organizations affiliated with religious entities did not have to provide benefits to gay couples."

Personally, I have no issues with that latter statement. I don't care to give my money to religious entities that need protection to discriminate against me in the first place.

Wait, I have one issue. It's annoying that secular people can get civilly married without stipulations, but that's because they're straight. The religious don't care about them. They're obsessed with us, the LGBT population, and no amount of stipulations is going to appease them when it comes to us.

But then I get pleasure in seeing them pissed off. I know I'm not supposed to admit that, but I am.

Mo Baxley, executive director of New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition, approved of Lynch' proposed changes.

"This is language we can support," she said. The organization is asking everyone in New Hampshire to contact their representatives for one last push for them to concur with the governor's change.

“New Hampshire’s great tradition has always been to come down on the side of individual liberties and protections,” Mr. Lynch, a Democrat, said in a statement. “But following that tradition means we must act to protect both the liberty of same-sex couples and religious liberty.”

Since the original bill never made it to the governor's desk, the legislators will now have to incorporate the new language before sending it to him.

Senate President Sylvia Larsen and House Speaker Terie Norelli predicted the Legislature would act quickly to adopt the changes, perhaps as early as next week.

I have to give kudos to the governor who is on record as opposing same-sex marriage, because he's knowingly pissed off his conservative supporters by agreeing to sign the bill. Kevin Smith, executive director of gay marriage opponent Cornerstone Policy Research, said Lynch's proposed changes are a disingenuous attempt to obscure the fact Lynch misled the public into believing he opposed same-sex marriage.

I disagree. He's restated his opposition to same-sex marriage, but it's clearly on religious grounds. He decided to view the issue "through a broader lens." So I don't see that as misleading - he never promised to NOT sign a civil rights bill granting marriage equality. In other words, he paid respect to the founding principle of SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.

Kevin Smith could learn a lesson or two from Gov. Lynch.



By the way, the National Organization for Marriage is behind the child exploitation ad, trying to manipulate the governor.