That NH has voted to allow gay marriage does not surprise me, "Live Free or Die", what does surprise me is that California has not, Ive just always seen California as a progressive state. I live in NH and this has been in the news quite a bit lately or Governer was dragging his feet a bit because of a legal issue regarding lawsuits against churches who refuse to marry gay couples, they can refuse, and they are protected from discrimination lawsuits by the final draft of the law.
Source(s):
http://www.wmur.com/search/form.html?qt=governer+lynch+gay+marriage&sto...

Permalink | Report

Good point! I would say there are two main reasons this surprising contrast occurred:

1) California is a ballot initiative state, so laws can be influenced by the popular mood of any given election season - this season, though gay marriage rights had more support than in previous years, the state voted against marriage rights. Also, turnout for the well-publicized initiative was influenced by tons of money that anti-gay-rights groups from other states sent to pay for advertising.

2) New Hampshire, thought fairly evenly split politically, tends to be VERY libertarian (as in they don't want the govt. in their business, and their license plates say "Live Free or Die."). They are therefore less likely to support what might be viewed as the govt. determining what counts as a marriage.
Permalink | Report