Gay Couples Enter Unions in New Year
As the clock struck midnight marking the start of 2008, dozens of gay and lesbian couples stood outside the New Hampshire Statehouse to enter into civil unions.
Beginning this year, civil unions for same-sex couples are legally recognized in New Hampshire. The law was adopted and signed in May 2007.
"We've been together 20 years; we've been waiting for this moment for 20 years; finally the state will recognize us as we are," said Julie Bernier who was joined by partner Joan Andresen.
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Organizers of the outdoor ceremony said they checked in 37 gay and lesbian couples for the 11 p.m. event on Monday.
Same-sex "marriage" advocates cheered while no protesters were seen at the Statehouse.
Michael Hein of The Christian Civic League of Maine was the lone opponent who drove 180 miles from Augusta, Maine, and passed out statements denouncing homosexuality. He also attended the event to "report to the people of Maine that this is going on next door," according to The Associated Press.
"Without our vigilance in Maine, (civil unions are) something that could occur as soon as next year," Hein said to AP.
Meanwhile, V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, announced that he will marry his same-sex partner in June.
"I always wanted to be a June bride," Robinson recently told an audience at a Florida law school during a lecture series on Sex, Morality and Law.
Robinson caused uproar when he became the first openly gay bishop to be consecrated in 2003. Conservative Anglicans worldwide have denounced the consecration and called for repentance.
New Hampshire became the fourth state - following Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey - in the nation to allow civil unions when Democratic Gov. John Lynch signed the bill into law last year. The civil unions law gives same-sex couples the same rights, responsibilities and obligations of marriage without calling the union a marriage.
Same-sex "marriage" supporters are expected to push for "full marriage equality - with the word marriage - soon," said state Rep. Jim Splaine, a sponsor of the civil unions bill.
Massachusetts is the only state that allows same-sex "marriage." New Hampshire estimates that as many as 3,500 to 4,000 civil unions will be performed this year.
