Additional comments by Timothy Horrigan; August 4, 2010
I probably should have put these videos on my site 14 months ago. Oh well, better late than never.
On June 3, 2009, Governor John Lynch (and the New Hampshire General Court) made New Hampshire the first state to pass marriage equality spontaneously without a law suit having to be filed first. This came just a couple of years after we passed civil unions, also spontaneously.
About 90 minutes after the Senate passed the third of three gay marriage bills, the governor signed them. I don't know if he was all that pleased, but he did sign the bills, he did give a gracious speech, and he has been steadfast in defending marriage equality ever since.
June 3, 2010 Report by
Lauren Collins
Original
URL:
http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-England/2009/06/03/NH-becomes-sixth-state-to/1244071627.html?
Lynch's June 3, 2010
remarks
Original
URL: http://www.necn.com/pages/landing?blockID=154618&
January
1, 2010 Report about NH's first same-sex marriages
(I
was there at the State House, but only as a well-wisher)
Original
URL:
http://www.necn.com/06/03/09/marriage/landing.html?blockID=162032&
It is, by the way, highly unusual for the Governor to sign a bill the same day it is passed. Normally, we give him all summer to sign bills (or to veto them, as the case may be.) I might also add that one of the reasons why so many of us legislators were in the Executive Council chamber and why we gathered so closely around him was because he wanted to make sure he actually signed the bills.
Shortly after he signed those bills, the second-most powerful member of the Lynch administration, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, abruptly resigned. She immediately began running for the U.S. Senate— as a Republican. She strongly opposes marriage equality.
See Also: