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Congratulations to New Hampshire, whose people have validated our faith in them, and our love for the state -- which is 201k's home away from home.

April 26, 2007

New Hampshire Senate Approves Civil Unions

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:23 p.m. ET

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- A bill authorizing civil unions for gays cleared its last hurdle Thursday in New Hampshire, the first state to embrace same-sex unions without a court order or the threat of one.

The Senate passed the bill 14-10, sending it to Gov. John Lynch, who announced last week he will sign it.

"To me this legislation is a credit to our state. We're making this move not because some court some place is telling us that we must," said Democratic Sen. Joe Foster of Nashua. "We do so today because it is the right thing to do."

There are no active court challenges of New Hampshire's marriage law. Two years in a row, lawmakers defeated proposed constitutional bans on same-sex marriage.

Unlike some so-called conservatives, the citizens of New Hampshire understand that "Live Free or Die" means freedom from having the government dictate how and with whom consenting adults can have relationships.

In other words, freedom means freedom. Great work, New Hampshire!