-From our local newspaper.
An editorial

Take time to read some of the commensts


1/22/2010


Anti-gay marriage activists in New Hampshire have started the year with a three-pronged effort to impose state-sanctioned discrimination against their neighbors. All three should fail.

Proposals to ban same-sex marriage come not even a full month after it became legal in the state. The proposals include a repeal of the gay marriage law as well as a plan to write a "heterosexuals only" definition of marriage into the state constitution, along with a nonbinding town meeting referendum along the same lines.

The repeal bill is unlikely to go far, at least this year. Legislators passed the measure in 2009, and it's hard to imagine that supporters have had a sudden change of heart.

More worrisome is the campaign for a new constitutional definition of marriage. The crusade is couched in the language of democracy - Let the people decide! - but is rooted in bigotry. There is no good reason to keep gay couples from marrying, even if it makes some of their neighbors uncomfortable. Back in 1967 - and perhaps even still - many Americans were uneasy with the idea of interracial marriage. As the Supreme Court rightly decided that year, that didn't make the laws just. The same is true here.

Legalizing same-sex marriage was a bold and powerful message from the Legislature and governor: New Hampshire will treat gay men and lesbians as full-fledged citizens.

There is no call for retreat.

Several months back, John H. Sununu, chairman of the state Republican Party, told the Monitor that his party intends to focus on economic and budgetary issues as a way of winning elections in 2010 and beyond. Those behind the anti-gay marriage campaign should heed his words and turn their attention to something productive.





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No Good Reason
By bandbox on Mon, 01/25/2010 - 10:47
The Monitor says, "There is no good reason to keep gay couples from marrying, even if it makes some of their neighbors uncomfortable." Assuming that the Monitor's position is valid, the only thing standing in the way of same-sex marriage is discomfort, and that can be overcome by the passage of time. By way of comparison, the Monitor mentions that many people were uneasy about interracial marriage back in 1967. So using the Monitor's comparison (call it the "discomfort" standard), we can look into the future and predict that other marital relationships now prohibited will be permitted in the future as sensibilities change. Take the prohibitions against incest and closely consanguinous marriages, based on the risk that inbred children will have genetic disorders. As our culture evolves, incest laws will undoubtedly change to permit marriages between close relatives, even brother and sister, parent and child, so long as one of the spouses is sterile and there can be no issue from the union. Sure, some bigots might feel uncomfortable, but there's no good reason to prohibit it. It just makes sense, like homosexual and lesbian marriage.
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CALL ME A BIGOT OR WHATEVER.......
By DIRTY HARRY on Mon, 01/25/2010 - 10:35
I believe EVERYONE should have equal legal rights. I am not a religious fanatic or a hater. I simply believe that traditional marriage is an institution that has qualifiers and exclusionary elements. I value it as a heterosexual entity. Form your own homosexual entity, just don't call it marriage and please feel free to exclude heterosexuals. I promise I won't call you a bigot and tell you to crawl back under your rock. How will hetero marriage influence your same-sex union? It won't, so attain all those equal rights and exercise them and leave traditional marriage alone, flawed as it is .
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If...
By Boone on Mon, 01/25/2010 - 09:14
..as the Monitor Eds put it, "there is no good reason to keep gay couples from marrying" then the people will likely vote that way. Democracy is based upon the premise that the majority of the populace will arrive at a good and morally correct decision. That's why we have elections and hold jury trials. If the Monitor does NOT believe this and does not have faith in the citizenry of New Hampshire, please come right out and say so. Otherwise, democracy demands that the people decide.
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Victim card doesn't work anymore
By Ryan Joseph Murdough on Mon, 01/25/2010 - 08:44
Playing the victim card does not work anymore. Legalizing same sex marriage serves no purpose except to validate their sexuality. Homosexuals and same sex marriage advocates have to get it through their head that many people simply don't love the fact that they are gay. Homosexual marriage opponents could not care less what gay people do behind closed doors but opposing gay marriage is much more than simply disagreeing with what they are doing in their own homes. I do not want New Hampshire to become a homosexual haven where public schools teach that homosexuality is perfectly normal and possibly even encouraged. Homosexuals indentify themselves by their sexuality, heterosexuals do not.
Interracial marriage is entirely different than gay marriage. Although I do not support interracial marriage, being white, black, or hispanic is not the same as being a homosexual. There is no such thing as a gay gene but there are different genetic traits among the races of the world. What is ironic is that Christians used the court system to make interracial marriage legal and now they are complaining about gays using the court system to make same sex marriage legal. Sounds to me like it always makes sense to listen to what the people want.
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Same Old Tired & Irrelevant Defense
By Jirdex77 on Mon, 01/25/2010 - 08:30
The current issue has absolutely no similarity to the civil rights movement and miscegnation laws of the 1960s and earlier. The Editor knows that, but let not the lack of facts get in the way of an agenda