Sorry for the month-long delay in posting, I graduated this month. 
Last week the state of Maine, through legislative action, joined Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and Iowa in the legalization of same-sex marriage. Among the New England states this leaves out only New Hampshire from offering marriage equality to all citizens – and this may be changing. The New Hampshire legislature has passed (Senate: 13-11, House: 178-167) a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, and the bill is heading to the desk of Governor Jon Lynch for signature, veto, or passive allowance. It is not known what action Lynch, a former gay marriage opponent, will take. If he signs the bill or passively allows its passage, New Enlgand will become a solid block with regard to marriage equality. The New York legislature has also begun preliminary work on similar legislation.
Filed under: News, Politics | Tagged: Gay Marriage, Legislature, Maine, Marriage Equality, New England, New Hampshire
Congratulations on the graduation! I’m doing the same in a week from Friday. ^_^
I’m really happy that gay marriage is becoming legalized in more states. Sad, though, that my own solidly blue state isn’t one of them (and IMO won’t be for some time, grrr). In a lot of ways, I think gay marriage is healthy for society (equality, sure, but I’m thinking economically; benefits all around there). I also think, and hope, gay marriage will be beneficial to the rather, well, promiscuous gay culture too. It’s my hope that younger gays who are able to grow up knowing marriage is possible will be more inclined to seek a more steady and traditional relationship as opposed to the random club-hopping (guy hopping!) that I feel is happening now.
Even so, my idealistic prudish views aside, I am still concerned about the potential outcome if these new laws go before the Supreme Court (and half the time, even before the people in the form of referendums and propositions, grrr Prop 8). They’re the only “old guard” that matters at this point, and while they’ve recently been gay friendly, I’m still not certain that they’re all willing to go so far as to allow the progress of gay marriage to continue as it has been. While it’s likely that they’d approve – and likelier still that they’d neither approve nor disapprove but instead let the states themselves determine – the possibility exists that they’ll say no and strike it all down in one fell swoop. That scares me.