Nation In Brief

Staff Reports

New Hampshire House Panel Votes Tuesday On Possible Repeal Of Same-Sex Marriage Law

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- The New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether or not to recommend repealing New Hampshire's same-sex marriage law and replacing it with civil unions for any unmarried adults including relatives.

This action follows a subcommittee recommendation that the House pass the bill repealing the state's law that took effect last year legalising same-sex unions. The measure calls for establishment of civil unions for any unmarried adults who are legally eligible.

Opponents of the measure argue that the legislation will return New Hampshire to a period where civil unions did not provide legal protections for same-sex couples, however, State Representative David Bates, the bill's chief sponsor, says there is no reason to limit civil unions and the legal protections they provide solely to same-sex couples.


UPDATED October 25th, 2011 * 8PM(EST)
The Judiciary Committee voted 11-6 Tuesday to recommend repealing the gay marriage law and establishing civil unions for any unmarried adults competent to enter into a contract. The bill isn't the same civil unions law that was in effect before gays were allowed to marry. That law granted gays all the rights and responsibilities of marriage except in name. The Legislature changed that to legalise gay marriage.

Alabama Lawmaker Pre-files Legislation On Anti-Gay Bullying Policies

Patricia Todd

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA -- Alabama's first openly lesbian legislator, state Representative Patricia Todd, (D-Birmingham), pre-filed legislation last week to expand anti-bullying policies to explicitly prohibit harassment in schools on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Todd told The Birmingham News that the same legislation had failed to make its way onto a committee calendar during last year's legislative session.

In a survey survey commissioned by Equality Alabama and conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research released this week shows that a majority of Alabamians -- nearly 70 percent -- support such an measure. Todd told the paper that she is hopeful that the measure will be more successful in the 2012 session of the Alabama Legislature.

"It has been slow, but people's opinions are evolving," said Equality Alabama vice chairman Ralph Young. "We think (the survey results) show we'll be able to make some progress in Montgomery."

Todd said she hopes she can persuade her colleagues to support changing the state's anti-bullying law. National news stories of suicides following bullying based on sexual orientation -- or even the perception that someone is gay -- are helping her make her case, Todd said.

"The studies all show that the majority of kids who are bullied are bullied because they're perceived to be gay," Todd said. "People are becoming more sensitive to that, but it's terribly slow."

In 2009, the state passed an anti-bullying law that makes it illegal for students to harass, bully, intimidate, harm or threaten to harm fellow students. The law required public school districts to pass anti-bullying and harassment policies.

The state Department of Education developed a model anti-harassment policy for school districts saying that violence, threats of violence, harassment and intimidation are prohibited based on race, sex, religion, national origin or disability. It did not address bullying of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students.  ~ The Birmingham News

Todd said it's important that school system policies explicitly list sexual orientation.

Nearly Half Of Hawaiian Voters Back Same Sex Marriage In Recent Poll

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA -- In a poll conducted two weeks ago by the Raleigh based Public Policy Polling firm, when asked if gay couples should be allowed to legally marry, 49% of voters indicated that they wanted to see same-sex marriages in the Aloha state to be legalised.

Hawaii currently does not have full marriage rights for gay couples, but civil unions will be legal next year in the state.

Governor Neil Abercrombie, (D), signed same-sex civil unions into law last February, granting same-sex and heterosexual couples the same rights, benefits and responsibilities as marriage under state law.

The Public Policy poll also found that 40% of voters however want same-sex marraige to remain illegal. The results were 77% support gay couples having some sort of legal recognition, with 40% still supporting full marriage, and 37% favoring civil unions. That sentiment is shared by 90% of Democrats, 77% of independents, and even 59% of Republicans.

According to the firm's published results, PPP surveyed 568 Hawaii voters from October 13 thru till Oct 16. The margin of error for the survey is +/-4.1%. The firm cites on its site: "This poll was not paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organisation. PPP surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews."

PPP is a Democratic polling company, but polling expert Nate Silver of the New York Times found that its surveys in 2010 actually exhibited a slight bias toward Republican candidates.