After two days of debating, the New Hampshire House voted for gay marriage 186 to 179 after first voting against it, 183 to 182.
The first vote against equal marriage was so close that a representative asked for it to be reconsidered. After a few minutes of intense personal lobbying on the floor, it passed.
Bills can only be reconsidered once, so the new vote is final.
The debate was ferocious, with Rep. Terie Norelli pleading with the anti-marriage contingent that it was against his religion to NOT solemnize gay marriage. “The state of New Hampshire should not have the right to impose your religious beliefs on my family and my church,” he said.
Norelli said that he has a cousin who is a lesbian, and a choir director at a church.
Other pro-equal marriage representatives made arguments that “separate is never equal,” and that gay marriage would entice the best workers and businesses to come to the state.
Anti-gay representatives made the argument, unsupported by research, that gay people are pedophiles and gay parents are harmful to children and that gay marriage would open the door to polygamy. One anti-equal marriage representative acknowledged that, “We all knew how we were going to vote when we walked in here today.”
The bill next advances to the state Senate. Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, is opposed to gay marriage, though he has not indicated whether he would veto the bill.
New Hampshire approved civil unions two years ago and were signed into law by Lynch; they went into effect last year.
http://www.365gay.com/blog/nh-gay-marriage-fails-by-one-vote/
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