It wasn’t so long ago that Scott Brown’s chances of winning the Massachusetts race for a U.S. Senate seat seemed slim, but then there was that wake up call. So when we hear about how New Hampshire’s House Judiciary Committee is hearing arguments about whether to overturn the state’s just-passed same-sex marriage law — and how the chances of it making it through the full House are “slim” — well, we’re not exactly at ease.
Of course, it may be more publicity stunt — to drive voter turnout — than anything else. But yeah, that too has worked before.
The House Judiciary Committee was holding hearings Wednesday on the two measures, which many observers expect the House to reject when they are brought to the floor in the next few weeks.
Opponents know their chances of success are slim, but they are looking to the November election in hopes Republicans will regain control of the Statehouse and succeed then in repealing the law.
Right now, Democrats are firmly in charge and appear eager to dispose of controversial measures early in the session to avoid lingering debate in an election year. Gay marriage opponents know that and are focusing on a bigger prize: voter sympathy.
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TeesonNYC
Yes, we should be very worried about it. As seen in the recent past, whenever there is a repeal of our rights on the ballot the “moral” opposition invades that state with their hate and dollars.
dontblamemeivotedforhillary
It’s horrible to wake up and find our lives as a clock ticking backwards attached to a bomb! Republ-Ocrat Priorities…
Jayson
No, I am not worried. I live in NH and the same people who passed the law are the same people who would have to vote to repeal it. It might play a role when elections come up in November but its going to be difficult to change the law at least til November 2012 when there is the possibility of a constitutional convention (Which you know the republicans will push for) and if they succeed in getting it on the ballot, in NH you need 66% of the vote to change the constitution, so chances are very slim to actually repealing marriage equality in NH.
AJD
I’ve been saying for some time now that we need to quit being so fucking Pollyanna-ish about gay marriage and gay rights in general. We’re not going to win just because “time is on our side” or because some poll shows that 40-something percent of people support gay marriage or young people support it or because we passed a piecemeal partnerships bill in Washington by a few percentage points (despite outspending our opponents and running a much better campaign) or got anti-discrimination protections in Kalamazoo.
Let’s face it: In the grand scheme of things, we’ve been losing big-time across the country for years. I’m so sick of taking one step forward and two steps back, and I really think a lot of it is because of our unwillingness to be serious about fighting our enemies. We need to stop being so fucking nice and polite to them all the time.
I’m not advocating violence or outright boorishness, but we can’t be so afraid of offending them by speaking the truth right to their faces, and maybe we should start hitting back at them, too. One idea I’ve had is a constitutional amendment that would define “education” as being provided by a teacher who has undergone an accredited training program — i.e. a ban on homeschooling. Even if it didn’t pass, the ugly campaigning would give those evangelical fuckers a taste of their own medicine and put their whole dysfunctional culture of bigotry in the spotlight.
john
You guys don’t get it. These anti gay people can’t be rationed with. They’re nuts. They want to think gay people are bad, no matter how much you prove otherwise. They’ll believe lies over truth.
TeesonNYC
@john:
That is even more reason why we as a community need to get off our collective asses and fight them tooth and nail. It’s not about convincing the right wing zealots that being gay is not a sin. because we will never do that. It’s about the people that are on the fence. those are the ones that we need to bring fully on our side of the battle.
villager
yeah- i think, give the vote in Maine, the recent senate election in MA, the vote in NJ, if I was married in NH, I’d be pretty damn scared right about now.
schlukitz
Should We Be Worried About the Push to Repeal New Hampshire’s Gay Marriage Law?
Damned straight, we ought to be.
Complacency is a sure-fire means for having our rights voted away from the religious, homo-hating right.
How many more examples do we need?
schlukitz
Correction: “having our rights voted away by the….”
PopSnap
Well, it wont pass by 60%, which is how much you need to change the constitution. It’ll likely end up being 40-something against a ban, and 50- something for a ban as always what else is new. :/
RemoveElliottNow
For those of you who have been tracking the Nancy Elliott “wriggling around in excrement” story from New Hampshire, there has just been a Remove Nancy Elliott from Office group established on Facebook and we need 10,000 supporters. Facebook users please join the group ASAP. This needs to go viral so we can send a message to New Hampshire that we do not accept their attempt to repeal marriage equality! Please tell all your Facebook friends… Search Groups: “Remove Nancy Elliott” to join
Read more: http://www.queerty.com/nh-rep-nancy-elliott-is-sorry-for-lying-about-5th-graders-learning-about-butt-sex-but-not-sorry-for-offending-gays-20100216/#ixzz0frdEXxZX