New Hampshire’s gay marriage law under threat
Politicians in the US state of New Hampshire are attempting to repeal a 2009 marriage equality law.
New Hampshire legalised the practice in 2009 but two bills to make it illegal are currently in front of the House.
Yesterday, hundreds of people testified before the New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee for or against gay marriage.
Reports said that supporters easily outnumbered opponents.
The drive to ban gay marriage is being led by Republican representative David Bates who said that no action on the bills would be taken until next January to give lawmakers time to focus on the economy.
But he said: “I have been assured the effort to restore traditional marriage will have the full support of House leadership when the time comes to take it up next year.”
Mr Bates had hoped that the legislature would vote to repeal the law this year. He has also raised the possibility of pursuing a constitutional amendment restricting marriage to heterosexual couples.
A poll by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center released last week found strong support for the law.
It found that just 29 per cent of respondents in the state support repeal of the gay marriage, 51 per cent strongly oppose repeal, 11 per cent somewhat oppose repeal, and nine per cent say they are neutral or do not know.
