Kind of a Surprise

The gallery was packed on Wednesday morning as the state Senate took up the question of same-gender marriage. I didn't get in, because I had been standing outside with two others from church holding a sign supporting both same-gender marriage and transgender rights. The bill to include transgender in the list of categories for nondiscrimination went down to defeat -- the silly argument that there was enough text in the law to do the job already apparently carried the day. But somehow, same-gender marriage passed!

People I saw afterward (and I wasn't in the gallery, where it was surely different) were subdued. What would the governor do? I think we found it kind of a surprise after all discouraging hype and all the bluster from the opponents. The explicit separation of civil and religious marriage, explicitly allowing religious communities to make their own decisions apparently made the difference. There had been creative thinking in the heat of the thing. A last-minute change crafted in the moment made it work.

It even took a few days for New Hampshire Freedom to Marry to organize a petition drive to address the governor. I think they must have been surprised, too. But yes, Governor Lynch does need to hear from us. In these times of economic difficulty compounded by a health scare, it is great to be able to move forward with legislation that will actually make life better for some people without spending a lot of money!