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Then debate on the committee report commenced with David Bates.
He said, among other things, "You are not a bigot to say people have a right to vote. They have a right to say what a family is." Uh--people have the right to say what their family is Mr. Bates. Not what mine is.
Representative Thompson (D-Manchester) said that the amendment violates the intent of the NH Constitution by enshrining discrimination in that document. New Hampshire already recognizes same sex marriage with no detriment.
Someone else spoke in favor of the committee report saying that the amendment violates the state and federal Constitutions.
Then Dan Itse (R-Fremont), who sees himself as a constitutional scholar and expert, got up and said because the state constitution made special mention of taxes and schools, but not marriage, the General Court has no right to define marriage, but an constitutional amendment is necessary. Then Rep Baldasaro asked a question about incest. Baldasaro then said, "Would you believe that this amendment will be brought back next January if it fails now?"
The PI for the pro amendment people was done by Rep Dumaine(R-?). He was pretty inflammatory, saying that the legislature should be stripped of its power by "the people", that "the people" no longer trust the legislature or the governor. He said the Constitution, presumably both the US and New Hampshire's should be interpreted by "the people", not the Supreme Court.
The PI for the committee report, given by Rep. DiFruscia (R-Windham) was also interesting. He was booed twice, once saying that the amendment was not the will of the majority but a vocal minority in the state, another time for saying you can't propose a constitutional amendment that is unconstitutional.
As Baldasaro warned, they'll be back...
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