Earful in Concord

The newly ensconced GOP supermajorities in New Hampshire are ready to rip out marriage equality — at least in theory. After about 700 folk came to public hearings on a bill to repeal same-sex marriage, they did duck for a year, pretending that the economy required 100% of their time.

They'll debate and vote next year, the Republican leaders say.

There are many things wrong and un-American about pulling back civil rights. Whether they are granted by plebiscite, legislature, courts or executive order, re-discriminating is antithetical to how this nation likes to portray itself. You know, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness...note the middle one.

One of our local stalwarts for equality of all types, John Hosty-Grinnell tweeted throughout the day. He was there and eventually got to testify. I'm sure he'll post on it at this blog or elsewhere.

Of course, the obvious takeaways include:

• There will remain people relentless in their desire to rob others of rights they have.
• Even after the long-term successful incorporation of SSM here, a small group of folk grumble and plot.
• The large anti-LGBT types like NOM will spend all their money and time lying about SSM, as their chair Maggie Gallagher did yesterday in NH.
• Until the DOMA is scrapped, there will be pressure from the top as well as the bottom to take rights away or allow states to justify not granting them.
• The not-all-that-bright, including lawmakers, continue to conflate their churches' rituals with civil marriage.
• Silly wrinkles like forbidding all marriages and allowing only civil commitments solve nothing and please no one.
• The huge insult to adoptive parents, the infertile and those who choose not to bear children will continue to be injected in the debate as though it was meaningful.

In short, the immediate need in NH is to beat back the attempt to take away existing rights from citizens. Meanwhile, there is a decent chance in Rhode Island, Maryland and maybe New York for marriage equality this year. If it is also re-instituted in California in the next year or two, the preponderance of the population will couple with the obvious — that SSM harm no one and helps some immensely.

---

Tags: massmarrier, Hosty-Grinnell, New Hampshire, same sex marriage, marriage equality