Democrats Pass Discriminatory Civil Union Legislation

Amendment to Include all Combinations of Family Relationships Rejected

Concord —Negative fallout from the November ’06 elections continues to be felt at the State House in Concord .  During a session that has already witnessed innumerable tax and fee increases passed on to the taxpayers of the state, the democratically controlled New Hampshire House today passed legislation permitting same gender couples to enter spousal unions with the same rights, responsibilities, and obligations as married couples.

“It is ironic that a segment of our population that has constantly complained of discrimination is now promoting legislation that is not only discriminatory but unconstitutional,” said Rep. Maureen Mooney (R-Merrimack).  “It is also disingenuous to claim that this bill creates equality when in fact it discriminates against a portion of our society that has been advocating for benefits,” she added.

Mooney, along with Rep. Jim MacKay (R-Concord) had attempted to salvage the bill by offering an amendment that would have opened up a civil union to all unmarried couples but it was rejected overwhelmingly by the Democrats.  “It would have made New Hampshire a leader in family law, but instead we have turned our backs to fairness and equality,” added Mooney.

In passing HB 437, the Democrats turned down the opportunity to take the lead on providing for all combinations of family relationships in a fair and equal piece of public policy, regardless of gender.

“For years members of a community have complained about being discriminated against, and now they are part of an extremely discriminatory measure,” said Republican Policy Leader Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett). “The Democrats now want to give rights to couples of the same sex that will be unavailable to heterosexual couples,” he added.

Since the federal government does not recognize civil unions, benefits such as social security death benefits, among others, will not be available to couples in a civil union.

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