Attempt to repeal NH marriage law fails

An attempt in the New Hampshire House of Representatives to repeal the state’s same-sex marriage law failed 109-210 on Feb. 17.

The House also overwhelmingly rejected an effort to amend the state constitution to re-ban gay marriage. The vote was 135 to 201.

The proposed amendment would have appeared on the November ballot if 60 percent of House and Senate members supported it.

Had the measure made it to the ballot, a two-thirds vote would have been needed for passage.

Memo to the National Organization for Marriage: Same-sex marriage is safe in New Hampshire.

Rep. John Cebrowski, R-Bedford, isn’t happy about that.

“The vast majority of adults out there know marriage is between man and woman,” he told fellow legislators, according to the Union Leader. “To engage in this flight of imagination … with adults is downright cruel … a cruel joke.”

In addition to being allowed in New Hampshire, same-sex marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont. It also is legal in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain and Sweden — and in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego province. It will become legal in Washington, D.C., in March and in Portugal later this year.

By Rex Wockner

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