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After all that, HB 436 had one more stop -- the Governor's Office. With a signature, it will become law. However, Governor John Lynch has long said he supported marriage only between a man and a woman, so he had to make up his mind about what to do with HB 436. He heard from over 10,000 telephone callers during the past week, and received thousands of E-Mails and letters and petitions. This has been probably the most written about, talked about bill in over a decade, and more.
Yesterday, John Lynch made up his mind. His decision shows his patience with the issue, the listening and learning process he has gone through, and his commitment to find a way to make this "change" work for everyone's benefit. And what he did next illustrated the best brand of leadership that a Governor can provide.
This morning, he called several of us together to meet with him in his office. Included were Speaker Terie Norelli, Senate President Sylvia Larsen, Senate Leader Maggie Hassan, House Leader Mary Jane Wallner, and myself, along with three members of his staff.
As he announced publicly later, he detailed his decision, and the process that led him there. He said he decided to support marriage equality. He would sign House Bill 436, but had a belief that language was needed in our state statutes further clarifying and protecting the freedom and independence of religious institutions and Churches, as well as the people who work for those organizations.
We talked for over half an hour, and his real concern for our state came through in the way he expressed his desire to make marriage equality work. He said he was determined to find a way in statutory language to provide equality for our tens of thousands of gay and lesbian residents, yet protect those New Hampshire residents who have religious affiliations. He wanted to make sure everyone's rights were protected. As Governor, that's his job. He told us that he had taken a look at the marriage equality laws of Vermont and Connecticut, and offered to us language that he thought would do the job.
After meeting with the Governor, we went to the House Speaker's Office and met for another hour with the Governor's legal counsel, joined by the House and Senate legal counsels -- rather smart people in their own rights, and needless to say, detail-oriented.
The plan at the moment is that we will continue reach out to include all members of the House and Senate in the discussion. This has to be a bipartisan effort, working with those who have supported marriage equality, but also those who have not.
There is a bill, House Bill 73, regarding the solemnization of marriage, that will have a public hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee this coming Tuesday at 1:45 PM in Room 103 of the State House.
At that time language to meet the Governor's request for clarification of religious freedom and independence will be offered. If the Committee agrees, the Senate and House could pass HB 73, with the new language, and send that to the Governor as a "companion bill" along with House Bill 436. He says he will then sign HB 436 into law.
What I think we should all do right now is let the process work out. It will be an open, inclusive, step-by-step process during the next several days which very well could result in marriage equality being successfully realized within the next couple of weeks.
It's been a long journey since the middle of last September when the bill was first requested to be drafted, and in fact even back to two years ago when the initial steps for marriage equality were taken with the work we did to adopt Civil Unions. Despite being "separate and unequal," Civil Unions have provided benefits and a higher level of fairness for 675 same-gendered couples, as of this week.
Those who helped us adopt Civil Unions in 2007 should be thanked for their work. So many people in and outside of government and politics have worked for so long for many years to get us to this point.
And those who are helping us get to full marriage equality still have some work to do. Contact your State Senators and House members and ask them to continue to work to make marriage equality a reality.
Governor John Lynch is sure to hear more, and in mega-doses, from our opponents during the next few days. He's come down on our side. So, we have to work hard to make this work. This is our best chance. We have come so far. Just a few more days to go, and we'll be there.
Equality. 2009. With one signature. We can do this.
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