Same-Sex Unions Now Legal in New Hampshire

As reported earlier on this blog, on May 31, 2007, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch signed legislation authorizing civil unions for same-sex couples starting in January 2008.

The following update is from Beverley Wang, Dozens of gay couples get civil unions at N.H. Statehouse, Boston.com, Jan. 1, 2008:

Dozens of gay and lesbian couples celebrated the arrival of civil unions in New Hampshire in the early moments of New Year’s Day Tuesday, bundling up against below-freezing temperatures for a group ceremony as soon as the unions became legal after midnight.

Organizers said they checked in 37 couples for the outdoor ceremony on the plaza of the New Hampshire Statehouse — the building where the law was voted in and signed in 2007. * * *

New Hampshire’s civil unions law — voted in by the Democrat-dominated Legislature early last year and signed by Democratic Gov. John Lynch in May, gives same sex couples the same rights, responsibilities and obligations of marriage in everything but name. New Hampshire is the fourth state in the nation to allow civil unions and the first to do so without a court decision or the threat of one. * * *

New Hampshire follows Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey in allowing civil unions. Massachusetts is the only state that allows marriage. New Hampshire record keepers estimate as many as 3,500 to 4,000 civil unions will be performed this first year.