CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – As soon as civil unions cleared its last hurdle on Thursday, gay couples in New Hampshire were announcing plans to say “I do.”
Under the bill, which passed the Senate 14-10 and is promised a signature from Gov. John Lynch, civil unions won’t be available until Jan. 1.
Sanbornton Rep. Gail Morrison said she and her partner want to be among the first to commit. “My partner and I have already spoken to our minister and we will be having a civil union the instant it is possible to do so,” said Morrison, a Democrat.
Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson, perhaps New Hampshire’s most well-known gay resident, also wants a civil union with his partner of 18 years, state health administrator Mark Andrew. “Absolutely. My partner and I look forward to taking full advantage of the new law,” Robinson, 59, told The Associated Press.
State Rep. Ed Butler, an innkeeper and justice of the peace, said he hopes to perform his first civil union at 12:01 a.m. New Year’s Day. His own civil union with his partner of 30 years will wait until their anniversary next April.
“In this instance the fat lady has sung. It’s a wonderful feeling,” said Butler, who watched the Senate vote from the public gallery.
The bill cleared the state Senate on party lines, Democrats for it and Republicans against, making New Hampshire the first state to embrace same-sex unions without a court order or the threat of one.
“I kind of am speechless,” said Democratic state Rep. Bette Lasky, who shepherded civil unions through the House. “I’m delighted this is the result and I’m proud of both the House and Senate for upholding New Hampshire’s tradition of advancing minority rights.”
The bill goes to Gov. John Lynch, who announced last week he will sign it.
Three other states already offer civil unions for gay couples: New Jersey, Connecticut and Vermont. Neighboring Massachusetts in 2004 became the only state to allow gay marriage.
Connecticut was the first to adopt civil unions without a court order two years ago. A lawsuit challenging the state’s marriage law was pending, but legislators said they were not influenced by it.
Thursday’s vote means four of six New England states will recognize marriage or civil unions for gay couples. In Maine there is nothing afoot regarding civil unions or gay rights. However, the state has a domestic-partner registry that covers same-sex and heterosexual couples. Marriage and civil union bills in Rhode Island haven’t gone far in the Statehouse, though in a nonbinding opinion, the state’s attorney general recently said gay marriages from Massachusetts should be recognized.
New Hampshire legislative supporters were jubilant.
“To me this legislation is a credit to our state. We’re making this move not because some court someplace is telling us that we must,” said Democratic Sen. Joe Foster of Nashua. “We do so today because it is the right thing to do.”
The bill’s success is an about-face from two years ago, when a state study panel recommended giving no meaningful consideration to extending legal recognition to gay couples. That panel, staffed mostly by supporters of a ban on gay marriage, concluded that homosexuality is a choice and endorsed a constitutional amendment to limit marriage to unions between a man and a woman.
Two years in a row, lawmakers defeated proposed constitutional bans on same-sex marriage.
Democrats won control of the Legislature last fall for the first time in more than a century. Republicans quickly predicted trouble ahead – for Democrats and civil unions.
“It is an example of the Democrats over-reading their mandate,” said state Republican Chairman Fergus Cullen.
“I am predicting that we are going to have one heck of a mess,” said Republican Sen. Jack Barnes, who voted against civil unions.
Sponsors of the civil unions bill called it a door to marriage in all aspects but name. Republicans seized on that remark, saying civil unions would lead to a collapse of traditional values.
“Let’s just call it what it really is, no sugarcoating, no b.s.” said Republican Sen. Robert Letourneau, of Derry. “This creates same-sex marriage. There is no right to marriage in either the New Hampshire Constitution or the federal Constitution.”
“We don’t let blind people drive or felons vote, all for good and obvious reasons,” he said.
State Rep. Jim Splaine, the openly gay sponsor of the civil unions bill, said time would change those attitudes.
“As we continue to evolve this discussion, we’ll see people not worried so much about the marriage word,” Splaine said. “This is an important difference. This is not marriage. This is civil union. This does nothing to impact anyone’s marriage.”
Marriage remains on the horizon.
Robinson, 59, said he looks forward to the day when gays will be able to marry.
“I think this is a huge leap forward but it is not full equality until we have equality,” he said. “We have come further in a short time than any civil rights movement in history.”
Hawaii, Washington, California, New York City and Washington D.C., recognize domestic partnerships. New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer this week pledged to introduce gay marriage legislation in the next few weeks.
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