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New Hampshire Senate passes same-sex marriage bill

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The New Hampshire Senate voted 13-11 Wednesday to approve a bill that would permit same-sex marriage in the state. The New Hampshire House of Representatives approved the bill last month by a vote of 186-179. The bill was amended on the Senate floor to distinguish between civil and religious marriage. The bill must now be reconciled between differing House and Senate versions before going before Governor John Lynch (D), who has not indicated whether he will veto it. Lynch has expressed opposition to the bill, saying that the New Hampshire civil union law passed in 2007 provides the same legal protections for same-sex couples. The New Hampshire attorney general was one of 10 state attorneys general to petition the Supreme Court of California to postpone implementation of its decision to allow same-sex marriages in that state. The New Hampshire same-sex civil union law, which took effect in 2008, allows same-sex couples to enter into civil unions with the "same rights, responsibilities, and obligations as married couples." In 2005, a New Hampshire Senate commission on same-sex marriages voted to recommend that the state not allow same-sex couples to marry, not recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages, and not establish a domestic partner registry.VOTE FOR JURIST JURIST is nominated for a 2009 Webby Award as best Law website. Please vote for us here!

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on April 29, 2009 (boomark / email).