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p>In the next couple of weeks, the New Hampshire House will vote on a bill to repeal Marriage Equality.#160; This bill takes away the civil rights of commited couples. This bill would also remove the state legal protections for same-sex couples by explicitly allowing any business or individual to refuse to recognize same-sex relationships with no legal recourse. Time is running out! What can you do? /p>p> a href=”http://equalityfederation.salsalabs.com/o/35021/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=473″>CONTACT /a>YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND TELL THEM TO VOTE AGAINST THE MARRIAGE EQUALITY REPEAL BILL./p>p> a href=”http://equalityfederation.salsalabs.com/o/35021/letter/?letter_KEY=13″>WRITE/a>#160;A LETTER TO THE EDITOR URGING THE DEFEAT OF THIS MEAN SPIRITED BILL./p>p>Time is running out!/p>

p>The NH House of Representatives will be voting on HB 437 and HB 443./p>p>It is time to Take Action and contact your Representatives. /p>p>Forward this to your friends and family and ask them to do the same./p>p>Report the results of contact to info@nhftm.org/p>p>Write a letter to the editor by going to our take action page./p>p>These bills may pass the NH House and Senate If they do the Governor will veto the bills. The bills will not become law unless both the NH House and Senate can override the veto. To override the Governor’s veto it takes 2/3 of those present both in the NH House and Senate to vote to override. With full attendance that would be 266 of 400 House members and 16 of 24 Senators voting to override. It would take 134 House members to vote no to block repeal. /p>p>The State of marriage in New Hampshire. In January of 2011 two pieces of legislation to repeal New Hampshire’s marriage equality were introduced to the New Hampshire House of Representatives. The two pieces of legislation are HB437 and HB443. The bills were assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.On February 17, 2011 a public hearing on these bills was held in Concord at the State House. It is required in New Hampshire that all bills introduced have a public hearing and get a vote in the full Houses of Representatives. The turnout for this hearing was overwhelmingly in support of marriage equality and in opposition to HB437 and HB443, the bills to repeal marriage equality. /p>p>On March 3, 2011 the Judiciary committee voted to retain both these pieces of legislation. All bills retained in commmittee for action shall be acted on during the second year of session. On September 14 a sub-committee recommended that HB443 be voted I.T.L. (inexpedient to legislate). This is a recommendation to kill the bill. The sub-committee recommended amending HB437. The amendment would repeal New Hampshire’s anti-discrimination law as well as marriage equality in NH./p>p>On November 2, 2011 the Judiciary Committee voted to accept the sub-committees recommendations and make these recommendations to the full house of Representatives in January. The legislation to repeal the law that grants marriage equality will be voted on by the full House in January 2012./p>p>There will be no further public hearings on these bills./p>/p>

p>Mo Baxley, Executive Director of New Hampshire Freedom to Marry, will be stepping down. /p>p>She has served the organization for nearly six years and was the group’s first Executive Director. Under her leadership, New Hampshire Freedom to Marry engaged in public education efforts that created overwhelming public support for marriage equality, followed by a successful effort to make New Hampshire the first state to achieve marriage equality entirely though the legislative process./p>p>Mo;s leadership has made an incredible difference for our community. As Executive Director her commitment, tenacity and strategic planning helped build New Hampshire Freedom to Marry into a powerful voice for equality. Mo has gone above and beyond the call of duty and we owe her a great debtrdquo;, said NHFTM Board member Brian Rater./p>p>It has been an honor to serve the members of New Hampshire Freedom to Marry and those people who work in New Hampshirersquo;s for equality and justicerdquo; said Mo, New Hampshire Freedom to Marry remains the most critical organization in the fight to protect marriage equality.  I am incredibly proud of the success we have had over the past six years and of New Hampshirersquo;s status as the only state to pass equality entirely legislatively. I have every confidence that as we close this legislative session at the end of 2012 marriage equality will be settled law in New Hampshire./p>p>Mo is stepping down due to a lack of funding said Claire Ebel, NHFTM Board member. ldquo;There is no better advocate on this issue in New Hampshire than Mo Baxley. We are very sad to lose Mo but remain confident in the foundation that we have built together. New Hampshire Freedom to Marry, the statersquo;s LGBT education and advocacy organization, looks forward to successfully defending marriage equality in New Hampshirerdquo; said Rator./p>

p>APNewsBreak: NH rep drops gay marriage amendment/p> p> By Norma Love /p> p>Associated Press / November 1, 2011 /p> p>CONCORD, N.H.—The sponsor of a constitutional amendment to prohibit gay marriage has decided not to pursue the measure next year to clear the way for a debate over repealing New Hampshire’s law legalizing the unions./p> p>State Rep. David Bates, the Windham Republican who also is sponsor of the repeal bill, told The Associated Press on Tuesday he wants to let the Legislature consider repealing the law enacted under Democrats two years ago before debating a constitutional change — a process that would take longer to implement./p> p>quot;The bill to change the meaning of marriage back to what it was in statute is well on its way,quot; Bates  said. Bates said he did not want to risk having lawmakers choosing between two measures: the bill and a constitutional amendment. quot;It would complicate the decision for legislators if there was another alternative out there,quot; he said. The legislative process seems the appropriate way to decide the issue, he said. If a constitutional amendment is used, millions of dollars in out-of-state money would flow into New Hampshire on both sides of the issue, he said. quot;I don’t think that’s the way people want it decided,quot; he said. Constitutional amendments need three-fifths vote of the membership of both houses to be placed on the ballot and two-thirds approval of the voters to be adopted./p> p>Same-sex marriage is legal in New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia. Another 30 states have constitutional amendments banning gay marriage. The House Judiciary Committee voted last week to recommend replacing the law legalizing same-sex marriage with civil unions for any unmarried adults, including relatives. The committee recommended killing a bill that simply repealed the law. /p> p>The full House must vote on the bills early next year. If the House passes the repeal bill, it would go to the Senate. It takes a majority to pass bills. Democratic Gov. John Lynch has repeatedly said he will veto attempts by the Republican-controlled Legislature to repeal the law, which he signed in 2009. New Hampshire enacted civil unions in 2007 for same-sex couples and two years later replaced that law with the marriage law. Lynch also signed the civil unions law./p> Repeal opponents, including some Republican lawmakers, believe the vote to pass the bill in the House early next year will be close. They believe if it passes and is vetoed, they have the votes to sustain a veto. It takes a two-thirds vote of those present and voting to override a veto. On the other hand, Bates said he believes the law will be repealed. The bill would not enact the same civil unions law that was in effect before gays were allowed to marry. That law granted gays all the rights and responsibilities of br/>

Bestselling author Jodi Picoult comes to the Highlands Inn for an event to benefit the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition. This fundraiser promises to be a special evening. Jodi and her friend Ellen Wilber who recorded the soundtrack accompanying Jodi’s latest book Sing You Home will be the honored guests at a reception at the Highlands Inn. The event continues at Bethlehem’s Colonial Theater where Jodi will read from S…ing You Home and Ellen will share some music from the soundtrack. Jodi will answer questions from the audience and Jodi will be available to sign books afterwards. A selection of Jodi’s books will be on sale at the theater by the Village Book Store of Littleton.

The event “An Evening by the Rainbow Chairs with Jodi Picoult” will be held July 25, 2011 at 6pm. One may attend the reception at the Inn for a donation of $50 or more. Advance reservations are required for this part of the evening. People who attend the reception are invited also to attend the reading. Tickets to attend only the reading at the Colonial Theater (2020 Main Street, Bethlehem) are available for a donation of $10 or more and are available in advance and at the Colonial Theater the evening of the event. The Colonial Theater event will begin at 8pm.

Jodi’s describes the Highlands Inn’s signature rainbow chairs in her book as evidence of the welcoming her protagonists find at the Highlands Inn. This inspired the title of the event and why donors able to make a gift to the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition of $1,000 or more will be known as Rainbow Chair Sponsors. These special guests will be acknowledged at the reception and will receive preferred seating for 2 at the Colonial Event. To learn more about being a Rainbow Chair Sponsor, contact Grace Newman at the Highlands Inn at 603-869-3978 or email vacation@highlandsinn-nh.com

Tickets to An Evening by the Rainbow Chairs are available by emailing vacation@highlandsinn-nh.com calling the Inn at 603-869-3978 or online at www.bethlehemcolonial.org

The 41st annual Boston Pride is Saturday June 11. The theme this year is: “Equality: No More, No Less.” (a very appropriate message for the marriage battle in NH).

 We will gather at 601 Tremont Street (in the South End) between Clarendon and Dartmouth Sts. (nearer Dartmouth, by the Blade barbershop).

Assembly time is 11:00 am.  The parade itself begins at noon.

New Hampshire Freedom to Marry will be marching in the parade on Saturday, June 11th, as well as having a table at the festival at City Hall Plaza the same day. The parade begins at noon (assembly by around 11:00 am), and the festival runs from noon to 6:00pm. Marriage equality in N.H. is still under threat. We want to alert all attendees from our state, as well as allies from Massachusetts and other New England states, that we cannot let up, we need their help, and we must all work together to defeat any attempt to fasten second class citizenship upon the members of NH’s LGBT community.

We hope you can join us in Boston on Saturday the 11th. WE WELCOME ALL THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO MARCH WITH US IN THE PARADE, along with other NH groups. Look for our banner. We would also gladly welcome anyone who can help staff the table at the festival. We will be setting it up on City Hall Plaza by 11:00 am. WE ARE ALSO ESPECIALLY LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO CAN HELP STAFF THE BOOTH BETWEEN 11:00 AM AND AROUND 1:30PM.

If you have any questions or would like to help, please contact us here or at info@nhftm.org.

Hope to see you Saturday in Boston!