Yesterday we found out that New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch will sign a gay-marriage bill as long as new lanuage is inserted to protect religious freedom. It's a shift in position for Lynch, who previously only favored civil unions, and a somewhat surprising one from a centrist not known for his political courage (he would have been more than happy, during that whole Judd Gregg brouhaha, to appoint another Republican to the Senate). The religious freedom provisions to be added to the bill essentially say that you can't be forced to participate in a religious ceremony involving gay marriage. To which gay-marriage advocates replied, duh.
Mary Bonauto, civil rights project director for Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, a legal group in Boston, said Mr. Lynch's proposed changes to the New Hampshire law were “not a big deal.”
“Current law essentially provides these protections,” Ms. Bonauto said. “If making it more explicit gives people some peace of mind, so be it.”
Those fighting the bill still argue that people like photographers or caterers would still not be protected from having to work at a gay-marriage ceremony they morally object to. Now, first, if you read that language it seems to cover those eventualities pretty comprehensively, and second, really, in this economy, a caterer is going to morally object to providing food for your wedding reception? Likely story. If this is the best ant-gay-marriage advocates can come up with, no wonder gay-marriage laws have been passing more frequently lately.
The bill probably won't be too much of a political problem for Lynch's re-election chances in 2010. A recent poll suggests the state is divided on the issue and, as is typical in states where gay-marriage laws pass, you can expect that support to rise as people realize that this bill won't affect anyone who isn't seeking to be affected by it, which will play well with New Hampshire's libertarian streak.
In fact, New Hampshire will be the second-to-last New England state to legalize gay marriage; only Rhode Island remains; the state currently recognizes marriages performed in Massachusetts and legislators introduced a gay-marriage bill in January. Good for New England! You take it, Modern Lovers...
-- Tim Fernholz
