New Hampshire likely to adopt civil unions
Election Night 2006 was apocalyptic for New Hampshire Republicans. Traditionally New Hampshire's dominant party, they lost the governor's race for the fifth time in six elections (and yes, I worked on the one Democratic campaign that lost), and Democrats picked up both U.S. House seats and made staggering gains in both houses of the state legislature to win control of both houses for the first time since around the Civil War. (Without looking up the numbers, I recall the 2005-2006 GOP advantage in the state House to be something like 250-150 and in the state Senate to be 16-8. Yet Democrats still took over both chambers.)
Today, we have real proof that elections have consequences. The state House has already passed a civil unions bill that appears likely to pass the state Senate next week. Democratic Gov. John Lynch, reelected in 2006 with 74 percent of the vote, announced today he will sign the civil unions bill should it come to his desk. So barring a surprise setback, it looks like all the roadblocks to making civil unions a reality have disappeared.
I've probably paid closer attention to politics in New Hampshire than in any other state, even my own, so this is particularly exciting for me. This would make New Hampshire the fifth state (after Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut) to allow either gay marriage or civil unions. I think marriage equality is the major civil rights issue of our day, and I'm thrilled to see real progress in such a great state.