New Hampshire Rep. Seth Cohn, R-Canterbury, helped to stop the repeal of the legalization of gay marriages in his state. Cohn, intentionally sponsored an amendment to the traditional marriage bill banning left-handed people from marrying, effectively ensuring it’s demise. The bill failed by a vote of 116-211 in the Republican-controlled legislature. Applause was heard from many of the lawmakers on the statehouse floor in Concord. Protesters from both sides of the issue gathered outside the statehouse debating back and forth with signs and slogans such as“two lefts don’t make a right.” Cohn, also a Free State Project member, jokingly said,
I’m using humor to make a point; and when I get up there, believe me, there will be a point made. I’m trying to sway people’s opinions and using humor is one way to do it; everyone has an equal right to marry the right-hander of their choice.
State lawmakers approved civil unions in 2007 and same-sex marriages in 2009, when both houses in the state legislature were controlled by Democrats. Close to 2,000 gay and lesbian couples have been married in New Hampshire since the current law went into effect January 1, 2010. The new law would have replaced same-sex marriages with civil unions starting in 2013, but marriages that took place before the repeal would have remained valid.
