Hello friends of Pam,

I run  Blue Hampshire, NH's progressive political blog, and we are doing everything we can to let the wider world know that HB436, the marriage equality bill that passed our state house by a mere 7 votes, is on its way to the state senate soon. 

A couple of key points:

* It is my belief, and that of some others, that our Democratic governor, while voicing a muted, personal opposition to marriage equality, does not have the political space to veto this if it passes the state senate.

* Right now, we have a 14-9 Democratic majority in the senate.

* We also have a special election for the 24th seat coming up in just a cople of weeks.  The Democrat in the race, Bud Martin, has announced that he supports marriage equality! If he wins prior to a vote, he could very well be the clincher.

* A public hearing for the bill in the senate has been set for this Wednesday at 9am.  So the wheels are turning as we speak.

Long story short: I am an almost preternaturally cynical person in regards to politics, but I sincerely think there is a real chance of this passing in the great Granite State.  It would make us 2nd in the nation to do it legislatively, and perhaps the 1st without a veto fight.

Along those line, I urge you to check out a series I'm working on to bring attention to the human side of the issue, called the Face of Marriage Equality.

The link takes you to the whole series, but here is a sample of the latest chapter. 

(more below the fold)  

Twenty Years!

Meet Bunny and Jill from Nottingham:

“We became Civil Unionized on 1/26/2008 after 17 plus years together.  Now we are nearing twenty and would love to make it a simpler message of Married 2 years in 2010.”

If you are enjoying this series and/or think it useful, please contribute a photo (and maybe some words) to this effort to show the human side of marriage equality.  “Straight,” not, single, not, is no matter.  Just that you live in NH and support marriage equality. Find out how at this link, or simply email me at dean dot bluehampshire at gmail dot com with your pix and support.

Click here for the series so far.

And have you contacted your State Senator yet?

There are four things you can do to help this bill pass:

1) Contact the state senate, especially if you are a Granite Stater, with your support of HB436. Be polite, please – they are likely getting deluged right now on this on both sides.

2) Give if you can to Democrat Bud Martin’s special election state senate campaign, who supports HB436.

3) Spread the word to anyone you know in New Hamphshire who can attend the public hearing this Wednesday.

4) Ditto on spreading the word for this Face of Marriage Equality project.  State media and politicos regularly read Blue Hampshire, so having as many human faces and stories to support marriage equality can only be a good thing.

NH Senate Hearing on HB 436

Day: 04/15/2009

Where: State House

      Concord, NH

When: 08:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Summary: Public testimony will be taken on the efficacy of legalizing all qualified domestic partnerships.

Description: It is imperative that people attend this hearing. It is particularly important that families attend including children.

People will start gathering at 8AM in front of the State House. You do not have to speak if you chose not to, you can register your support by attending.