A Step Toward Marriage Equality

I'm excited! The State of New Hamphshire is about to have legal Civil Unions. That means gay and lesbian couples can have at least some of the rights and responsibilites married heterosexual couples have. It has real practical importance for many -- health insurance as a family has got to be better than health insurance as two individuals -- even though the benefits are limited. To me, the real importance of this step toward "civilizing" same-gender commitments is that it signals a shift in social attitudes. The conferring of legal recognition, however limited, confers the dignity of being recognized before the law. Couples raising children together need not pretend to have some other kind of relationship than the one they have. They can come out of the shadows and be themselves. Families.

All kinds of families need all the help they can get. They get it in our Unitarian Universalist churches, and I'm thrilled that they now get it in some other faiths as well. And now they get a little nudge in the right direction from the State of New Hampshire. Stable, loving relationships are a gift from the Cosmos. They are also the product of deep commitment by the people involved plus acceptance and encouragement by family and frieds, church and community, yes, even State.

So in the early moments of 2008, I plan to be standing on the State House steps blessing and making legal the commitments of as many same-gender couples as come forward to participate. And for those of you who are elsewhere, I invite you to raise a glass to toast this sea-change in New Hampshire. From then on, things will be different for same-gender couples who make commitments to one another here in the Granite State, for those commitments will be made on a firm foundation undergirded with law.

It's not full marriage equality, but it's a start.