STATUS: Marriage 

TAKE ACTION: On March 21, 2012, legislation to repeal the New Hampshire marriage law was defeated. 

Freedom to Marry is a lead partner in Standing Up for New Hampshire Families, the campaign to protect marriage in New Hampshire. Freedom to Marry was the campaign's largest financial investor, and our staff will continue working to preserve the freedom to marry in the Granite State.  

HOW YOU CAN HELP: Make a donation to Freedom to Marry’s Win More States Fund today. Every single penny donated to the Win More States Fund will go directly into the work of protecting marriage in New Hampshire and winning in other battleground states. 

HISTORY: On June 3, 2009, Gov. John Lynch signed a freedom to marry bill into law after it was approved by the state legislature. The first marriages for same-sex couples in New Hampshire took place on January 1, 2010, and the law has maintained popular support among New Hampshire residents.

In the 2010 elections, Republicans took control of the state legislature, gaining 75 percent majorities in both chambers, setting the stage for possible repeal. Despite Gov. Lynch's promise to veto any repeal legislation, the National Organization for Marriage and other anti-gay activists have made repealing New Hampshire's marriage law a top priority. These marriage opponents have committed to securing the two-thirds majority in both branches that is required to override a gubernatorial veto.

In October 2011, H.B. 437, the bill that would repeal the freedom to marry, passed the House Judiciary Committee. On March 21, 2012, the legislation was defeated by a bipartisan vote.

Standing Up for New Hampshire Families, Freedom to Marry and other organizations are working together to continually protect the freedom to marry in New Hampshire, incorporating a cutting-edge public education and lobbying campaign focused on helping Republican lawmakers understand why marriage matters.

GROUPS ACTIVELY WORKING ON MARRIAGE:

• Standing Up for New Hampshire Families is a bipartisan group of citizens, business owners, people of faith, and civic leaders who oppose repealing the popular 2009 law allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry.  
• Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage nationwide. We are pursuing our Roadmap to Victory by working to win the freedom to marry in more states, grow the national majority for marriage, and end federal marriage discrimination. We partner with individuals and organizations across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage and the protections, responsibilities, and commitment that marriage brings. 
• Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England's leading legal rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status and gender identity and expression
• Human Rights Campaign is the United States' largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality.

POLLING DATA: In New Hampshire, 57% of voters feel that the freedom to marry should be legal, compared to only 35% who feel it should be illegal. (Public Policy Polling, May 2012)

NUMBER OF SAME-SEX COUPLES: According to The Williams Institute's analysis of the 2010 U.S. Census, 3,260 same-sex couples are living in New Hampshire, representing 6.3 same-sex couples per 1,000 households.