Bill would disregard same-sex marriages
 |
Story Tools
VIDEO
|
Huge crowds of gay and lesbian couples lined up outside San Francisco's City Hall in hopes of obtaining a marriage license.
|
|
CONCORD, New Hampshire (AP) -- Republican lawmakers in New Hampshire, where same-sex marriage is already illegal, are pushing a proposal that would allow the state to disregard such unions performed elsewhere.
The group of legislators points to neighboring Vermont and Massachusetts as reasons to pass the bill.
Vermont allows a domestic partnership arrangement called civil unions and Massachusetts' highest court ruled in November it was unconstitutional to ban gay marriage. Gays will be able to get married in Massachusetts beginning May 17.
In New Hampshire, "We felt we were squeezed in the middle," said state Rep. Robert Letourneau, one of the bill's sponsors.
The bill, which comes up for a committee hearing Tuesday, would reinforce the state's gay marriage ban and state that gay unions performed outside New Hampshire have no standing within the state. It would also make Vermont-style civil unions illegal in New Hampshire.
State Sen. Russell Prescott, the bill's prime sponsor, insists that current law does not explicitly invalidate same-sex marriages if legal in other states. "We felt we needed to do that more clearly," he said.
The bill deals only with the definition of marriage; not with rights and benefits for same-sex couples.
Gov. Craig Benson, a Republican, supports the bill and said Friday he supports banning civil unions as well as gay marriage. "It seems to me it's the same thing called by a different name," he said.
Copyright 2004 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
