New Hampshire same-sex marriage: almost impossible to repeal

New Hampshire same-sex marriage goes into effect tonight at 12:01am and, unlike Maine, it will be almost impossible to overturn. The New Hampshire constitution does not provide for the referendum process used in Maine to overturn Maine's same-sex marriage law. Amending the New Hampshire's constitution is extremely difficult. A 3/5 vote of each house of the General Court (state legislature) is required to send a proposed constitutional amendment to the people at the next biennial November election. A 2/3 vote of the qualified voters participating in an election is required to adopt a new amendment. The only other possibility is a constitutional convention which would need 3/5 of the delegates to send a proposed amendment to the voters which would also take 2/3 to pass. Both of these are extremely remote possibilities because, bottom line, at least 1/3 of New Hampshire's voters support same-sex marriage and everyone knows it. So, this is one battle which will not be fought. Of course, some die-hard homophobes are still trying to amend the New Hampshire constitution but they will not get far. In most other states it is much easier to overturn a court decision or a law passed by the legislature so New Hampshire represents a very limited strategy for success.

Lies We Tell Ourselves: Same-sex marriage is NOT marriage equality

e-qual-i-ty 1. the state or quality of being equal; correspondence in quantity, degree, value, rank, or ability. 2. uniform character, as of motion or surface.
Legal Dictionary
the quality or state of being equal: as a : sameness or equivalence in number, quantity, or measure b : likeness or sameness in quality, power, status, or degree

Equality does not mean it is the same. It means equal. Neither same-sex marriage nor domestic partnerships have federal rights, therefore, neither are marriage equality. However, if domestic partnerships had federal rights and same-sex marriage did not then domestic partnerships would be marriage equality and same-sex marriage would not. To define same-sex marriage as marriage equality is a lie. Same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire and California proves that. None of those marriage are legally equal to heterosexual marriage. However, same-sex marriages in those states are equal to domestic partnerships in California and the State of Washington.

Big Lies we tell ourselves
1. Sames-sex marriage is marriage equality
2. Domestic partnerships can never be marriage equality