When 85 N.H. lawmakers voted to sanction discrimination against gays and lesbians
As Indiana Republicans struggle to limit the blowback from a recently passed “religious freedom” law by insisting the law does not allow discrimination against gays and lesbians, it’s worth noting that just three years ago, 85 New Hampshire lawmakers supported legislation that would have explicitly allowed it.
House Bill 1264 would have exempted business owners and their employees from the state’s civil rights laws if they denied wedding services based on “conscience or religious faith.” And while the measure was clearly aimed at same-sex marriages, it would have hypothetically protected the right to discriminate against any union, including interracial and interdenominational marriages.
An editorial in the Portsmouth Herald compared the legislation to “the old ‘White Only’ signs that once hung outside restaurants, rest rooms and other public places in the South before the Civil Rights movement made great strides in bringing fairness and equality to a nation.”
In a speech on the House floor, then-Rep. Barry Palmer (R-Nashua) echoed that sentiment by declaring, “This sounds more like 1950s Mississippi than 21st century New Hampshire.” Palmer pointed out the measure was a direct response to the state legalizing same-sex marriage in 2009. “When some legislators disagree with a law that has been previously passed,” he said, “they sometimes seek to prevent the effects of that law.”
31 lawmakers who voted to legalize discrimination continue to serve in the House today: David Bates (R-Windham), John Burt (R-Goffstown), Guy Comtois (R-Center Barnstead), Daniel Donovan (R-Deering), Joe Duarte (R-Candia), Susan Emerson (R-Rindge), Jack Flanagan (R-Brookline), Larry Gagne (R-Manchester), Warren Groen (R-Rochester), JR Hoell (R-Dunbarton), Kathleen Hoelzel (R-Raymond), Paul Ingbretson (R-Pike), Daniel Itse (R-Fremont), Walter Kolodziej (R-Windham), Walter Laware (R-Charlestown), Frank McCarthy (R-Conway), Donald McClarren (R-Nashua), Dan McGuire (R-Epsom), Keith Murphy (R-Bedford), James Parison (R-New Ipswich), Robbie Parsons (R-Milton), Laurence Rappaport (R-Colebrook), Adam Schroadter (R-Newmarket), Carl Seidel (R-Nashua), Steven Smith (R-Charlestown), Daniel Tamburello (R-Londonderry), Timothy Twombly (R-Nashua), Jordan Ulery (R-Hudson), Joanne Ward (R-Stratham), James Webb (R-Derry) and Kenneth Weyler (R-Kingston).
Three representatives who supported the legislation, Kevin Avard (R-Nashua), Gary Daniels (R-Milford) and John Reagan (R-Deerfield), now serve in the state Senate.