New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition http://nhftm.org Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:25:58 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Vote on Marriage Repeal likely Jan 11th or 18th 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>

]]> http://nhftm.org/2012/01/vote-on-marriage-repeal-likely-jan-11th-or-18th/ New Hampshire House of Representatives to vote on marriage repeal bills January 2012 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…

]]> http://nhftm.org/2011/12/new-hampshire-house-of-representatives-to-vote-on-marriage-repeal-bills-january-2012/ Executive Director Mo Baxley Steps Down ; 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…

]]> http://nhftm.org/2011/11/executive-director-mo-baxley-steps-down/ They know they cannot win, they are trying to avoid an embarrassing defeat. 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;…

]]> http://nhftm.org/2011/11/they-know-they-cannot-win-they-are-trying-to-avoid-an-embarrassing-defeat-5/ An Evening by the Rainbow Chairs with Jodi Picoult 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…

]]> http://nhftm.org/2011/07/an-evening-by-the-rainbow-chairs-with-jodi-picoult-2/ New Hampshire marches in Boston Pride 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…

]]> http://nhftm.org/2011/06/new-hampshire-marches-in-boston-pride/ Activist summit Join us for an update on the status of marriage equality in New Hampshire and our plan for moving forward,.

May 21,  9:30 to noon

The Concord Unitarian Universalist Church, 274 Pleasant St., Concord

 

]]> http://nhftm.org/2011/05/activist-summit/ “for my wife…” Tuesday, May 10,

7:00 pm film & speaker

Keene Public Library Auditorium, 60 Winter St, Keene, NH

Suggested donation $15 per person

The award winning documentary "for my wife…" chronicles the making of an activist for Marriage Equality. Charlene Strong was thrust into the spotlight after the tragic death of her wife, Kate. After facing this loss and the heartless discrimination of hospital and funeral home staff, Charlene decided to take a stand.


]]> http://nhftm.org/2011/05/%e2%80%9cfor-my-wife%e2%80%a6%e2%80%9d-2/ Senators Unveil Effort to Repeal DOMA The Respect for Marriage Act would “restore the rights of all lawfully married couples – including tens of thousands of same-sex couples – to receive the benefits of marriage under federal law.”

Senator Jeanne Shaheen

“All lawfully married couples deserve to receive the benefits of marriage under federal law. That’s why today I co-sponsored legislation to repeal the discriminatory Defense Of Marriage Act. I was proud to vote to repeal the military’s discriminatory Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy in December and I will continue to ……work hard to lead on issues of civil rights and
equality.”

]]> http://nhftm.org/2011/03/senators-unveil-effort-to-repeal-doma/ House Judiciary Committee votes to retain legislation to repeal marriage equality Today the House Judiciary Committee voted to retain legislation to repeal marriage equality. This means the vote is postponed until January of 2012.  This is not the best or the worst news. Marriage equality will not be taken away this year but neither is it safe. Lawmakers just kicked the can down the road. All legislation that takes away marriage equality from committed gay and lesbian couples should be torn up and thrown away — not just put on hold. Not only will we be fighting against repeal legislation next year, we will also be fighting a constitutional amendment on the 2012 ballot. That legislation will be introduced in January 2012.

This means we continue fighting any and all attempts to repeal the law. The state Senate will be in session in April and May and might decide to take up repeal.  Any number of other activities in the legislature could come up throughout the legislative session.

Help prepare for…

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