Commission report recommends minimal benefits to same sex couples

[Thom Little]

The state's gay marriage panel will recommend that New Hampshire's same sex couples be denied legal status, and be allowed only a minimum of the benefits available to married heterosexual couples, according to a draft report obtained by The Associated Press.

Representing the commission's conservative majority, the draft concludes that same sex marriage is not a right, because homosexuality is a choice, not a genetic predisposition. The report's authors also said the absence of any mention of gay marriage in New Hampshire's history weakened proponents' arguments for it.

"Same sex marriage has never been considered either a fundamental right or an essential element of society's fabric so as to constitute an essential liberty in New Hampshire history," the draft reads.

.......

"The commission in the present situation can only suggest that rights that are contractual in nature be explored individually. To do so need not require that same gender sexual relations be recognized," the report states.



http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NH_XGR_GAY_MARRIAGE_REPORT_NHOL-?SITE=VARIT&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-11-23-16-37-27

[maxanne]

1. hmmm...

I can't wait to read the report. I am really interested in reading the expert testimony they must have heard to conclude that homosexuality is a choice. That testimony was not presented at the hearing I attended.

The Commission has done the job it was intended to do, by reaching the conclusions it formed before it began.

[Redneck Socialist]

2. You're so cynical...

and right. ;)

[TaleWgnDg]

3. NH Commission Rejects Same-sex Marriage . . . and NHPR reports . . .

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New Hampshire commission rejects same-sex marriage

Jeannie Shawl, Jurist News, Tuesday, October 25, 2005 at 12:47 PM ET

(Jurist News) A New Hampshire commission on same-sex marriage (JURIST news archive) voted Monday (October 24, 2005) to recommend that the state legislature not allow same-sex couples to marry, not recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages, and not establish a domestic partner registry. The commission, established (SB 427 text) in 2004 "to examine all aspects of same sex civil marriage and its legal equivalents," has held months of expert and public testimony and voted earlier this month to recommend a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. The commission, scheduled to issue a final report to the state legislature (official website) December 1, has yet to take up the issue of civil unions. AP has more. The Nashua Telegraph has local coverage.
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. . . more at . . . http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2005/10/new-hampshire-commission-rejects-same.php (Jurist News)
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Commission Rejects Gay Marriage

(NH PUBLIC RADIO, NHPR News) Reported by Dan Gorenstein on Thursday, October 6, 2005.

The Commission to Study Same Sex Marriage is recommending that lawmakers pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. The move generated strong reaction from opponents and supporters alike. But to both sides, the decision came as a bit of a surprise. New Hampshire Public Radio's Dan Gorenstein reports.

A rough transcript follows:

The same-sex marriage commission was created to consider how NH should move forward on the issues of civil unions and same sex marriages.

The panel, made up of lawmakers, state officials and members of the public, began meeting in April.

Since then, the Commission has held at least 35 hours of hearings . . . taking testimony from over 300 people across the state.

This week, the panel met to start discussing its findings.

But instead, a commissioner quickly introduced a motion to recommend lawmakers pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

The motion passed 7-4.

And Mo Baxley, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition was surprised.

T.10
13:43 I have been to every commission meeting, every minute...and to be able to come to this conclusion, just, boom, here we are, before they even discuss one piece of expert testimony, one piece of public testimony, that feels like hate.

The move also caught panel member, Ray Buckley off guard.

He says he believed there was agreement among Commissioners to consider common ground.

T.6
3:21 I thought, right from the beginning, by taking the constitutional amendment and full marriage rights off the table, and come up with some NH-style response to this, that we were going to be able to be successful . . . 4:09 instead of trying to find that compromise, they decided to go right off the edge.

Buckley says he has lost any hope of making a useful recommendation to lawmakers that increases equality for gays and lesbians in New Hampshire.

But panel chair Representative Tony Soltani is calling for patience.

He concedes his commission's actions this week send a bad message.

But he predicts satisfaction, ultimately.

18:36 what I have heard from the same sex community there is a small minority that want marriage. It is the marriage that is interested in the rights and responsibilities which we are going to do. And we are going to recommend. The title of the name doesn't matter. It's what the meats and potatoes are.

Supporters of same-sex marriage believe Soltani is more likely to pay lip service to their concerns over discrepancies in parental rights, hospital visitations and tax laws.

But Karen Testerman, for one, is convinced some kind of change is needed.

Testerman, who is the executive director of the conservative organization Cornerstone Policy Research, says she supports law changes that bring greater equality to same-sex couples on one condition.

T.3
4:30 if, and that's a big if, it applies to all people who are in domestic relationships, we could have a father and a son and they would like to have reciprocal benefits, or something like that. I object to signaling out the homosexual community and say you alone in a special situation. They're not . . . there are two sisters living together, three in a family living together. They all deserve to have the same kind of benefits that the homosexual community is asking for. And it doesn't need to appear in a marriage per se.

That strikes the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition's Mo Baxley as absurd.

T.10
12:23 no one has ever come forward, no two sinsterly sisters have ever come forward and asked for this. This is a red herring, no one started talking about this, until we stared talking about marriage equality for gays and lesbians. This is purely a distraction.

As the state grapples with this question of equality, Mo Baxley thinks about the some 400 laws that a married couple enjoys, that are off limits to gay and lesbian couples.

That is something that Representative Tony Soltani says concerns him too.

At the end of the day, Soltani remains convinced marriage is sacred.

But at the same time a same-sex union is worthy of protections.

22:20 at some point in history I hope they will understand why we made the dinstinction...that distinction will exist even then. Marriage is a marriage. And a union is a union between two loving people....I believe that will continue to be viewed in annals of history. I don't think we will be judged harshly.

Fellow Commissioner Ray Buckley.

T.5
8:30 I think the next generation of people are not going to even realize it was illegal for same sex families to be married in NH. Just like people didn't know at one time it was illegal for Catholics to hold office or vote, or that women weren't allowed to voted...people of different races weren't allowed to married...I think the next generation of people will be shocked to find out there was such nervousness to go forward on this issue.

The Commission's final report is due December 1st.

For NHPR News, I'm DG.

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. . . more at . . . http://www.nhpr.org/node/9740
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[maxanne]

4. Testerman is a whack job

And if she's that worried that siblings will claim domestic partnership - than same sex marriage seems to be an excellent solution.

Soltani isn't exactly suffering from sanity. Newsflash, dude - you're already being judged harshly, by a number of those folks who testified at commission hearings.

[TaleWgnDg]

5. maxanne, it's so good to hear about NH folks who are involved . . .

such as you. Stay involved, keep active! Way to go!

.

[maxanne]

6. I'm hooked

on smoking the crack that is NH politics. Thanks, TaleWgnDg - there are more of us than you'd think!