NH Teabaggers Shrug Over Gay Marriage

At yesterday's tax day protest in New Hampshire, Wonk Room's Igor Volsky couldn't find a single Tea Party activist who cares about gay marriage.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: House Committee Tables Marriage Repeal Bill For 2011

We won't have to worry about marriage repeal in New Hampshire for the rest of the year.

A House committee voted today to take repeal of the state’s same-sex marriage off the table this year. The 15-0 vote of the House Judiciary Committee effectively means two bills repealing the 2009 law won’t return to the full House of Representatives until early next year.There was no debate in committee about the move. House Majority Leader D. J. Bettencourt, R-Salem, had decided that this divisive issue would distract from GOP priorities to adopt a balanced budget, change the education funding constitutional amendment and alter pension programs. The committee decided to retain the bills (HB 343 and HB 437), which keeps them in its custody until early in 2012 without a further vote of the Legislature. The panel unanimously recommended killing a third bill (HB 569) that would have replaced marriage with domestic unions for all adult partners, be they heterosexual or homosexual couples.

The haters are gonna be furious! Hah.

Anti-Gay NH Group To Demand Marriage Pledge From 2012 Presidential Candidates

The New Hampshire-based anti-gay group Cornerstone Action plans to demand that 2010 presidential candidates sign a pledge to "defend traditional marriage." Roll Call reports:

“It was never a plan to make it into a national issue, but it just seems like the timing is right,” Kevin Smith, executive director of the socially conservative think tank New Hampshire Cornerstone, told Roll Call. In New Hampshire, where the GOP now holds veto-proof majorities in the House and Senate, legislative leaders recently decided to postpone action until next January on a high-profile bill to repeal same-sex marriage rights. The debate, which clogged hearing rooms and dominated Granite State headlines earlier in the month, is now scheduled to re-emerge at roughly the same time as the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary. Cornerstone will ask each Republican presidential candidate to sign a pledge agreeing marriage should be between one man and one woman. “Why not try to leverage the influence of the candidates to get them to declare their support for traditional marriage?” Smith said. “If you have a candidate saying they’re not willing to oppose same-sex marriage, I think they’ll have a problem. ... We have a wide membership list. We’ll certainly let them know.”

(Tipped by JMG reader Scott)

Fred Karger Vs. NOM

Fred Karger's Californians Against Hate have rebranded themselves as Rights Equal Rights as Karger takes his battle against NOM to New Hampshire.

NOM Launches Campaign Against NH GOP Leader For Slowing Marriage Repeal

Earlier this month New Hampshire House GOP leader D.J. Bettencourt announced that his chamber had more important items on its agenda than to bother with repealing same-sex marriage. Right on cue, NOM is now attacking him as "an enemy of the family."

Bettencourt said the National Organization for Marriage sent a direct mailer to his district in Salem saying he doesn't support traditional family values. He said the mailer was the result of his announcement last week that the House Republican agenda did not include repealing gay marriage. Bettencourt said the incident shows how controversial the issue is and reinforces his belief the House should focus on fiscal issues this year. In a letter to House Speaker William O'Brien, Bettencourt said the organization and its supporters in New Hampshire know the repeal bill will be acted upon because legislative rules require floor votes on bills. "This assault on our agenda has the potential to take important focus and energy away from our focus on the budget," Bettencourt wrote O'Brien. "Therefore, it is my belief that the same sex marriage repeal must be retained in the Judiciary Committee this year so that our full and undivided attention is focused on New Hampshire's outstanding financial issues."

As noted above, the New Hampshire House will be forced under its own rules to eventually vote on the repeal bill. But unless Bettencourt surrenders to the attack from NOM, it won't happen this year.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: State GOP Leader Says Repealing Gay Marriage Not On Agenda

A short but very interesting item just popped up on my Associated Press feed.

House Republican Leader D.J. Bettencourt confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday that jobs and the economy will be the top priorities that Republicans will use as their scorecard to measure themselves by for the next two years. Bettencourt said social issues will take a back seat. He said one abortion initiative will be on the agenda but he declined to say what it is.

Stand by for NOM's hissy fit.

UPDATE: New Hampshire Freedom To Marry responds:

"We hope press accounts are accurate that House Republicans have decided not to pursue a repeal of New Hampshire's gay marriage law this year. If so, we applaud the Republican leadership for listening to the people of New Hampshire. There is bipartisan opposition to repeal marriage equality. All families here want the legislature to focus on the economy, and now is not the time to consider taking away rights from committed couples and their families." - Mo Baxley, Executive Director, New Hampshire Freedom to Marry.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Battle Begins Over Attempt To Repeal Same-Sex Marriage

A coalition of outside groups including NOM, the Family Research Council, and Focus On The Family are preparing to launch their campaign to repeal same-sex marriage in the New Hampshire legislature. With the GOP taking new majorities in both chambers, a repeal is expected to pass easily. But getting to the super-majority needed to override the governor's expected veto may not come so easily.

The magic numbers are 266 and 16 — two-thirds of the House and Senate, respectively — the number of votes needed to override what is expected to be Gov. John Lynch's veto of any repeal bill. That's assuming all 400 House and 24 Senate members are in attendance when the vote is taken. It's going to take patience, as well, because the House and Senate leadership have made it very clear that their first priority is getting the state's fiscal house in order. Still, both sides are expecting that before the session is over next spring, the effort to repeal the law will come before the General Court for a vote.

Currently, there are several "legislative service requests," essentially placeholders for bills that will be filed when the legislative session begins in January. The language is similar, seeking to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Rep. Leo Pepino, R-Manchester, already has four other co-sponsors to his LSR and he's convinced that the law will be repealed this session. At 298 House Republicans, "I think we have more than we need to override a veto," he said. Pepino is a Catholic who said he feels strongly about the issue. "When I was a kid, we were all led to believe that the first couple was Adam and Eve, not two Adams and two Eves. To me, it's not normal" for gays and lesbians to marry.

NOM's Brian Brown says his group is "poised to start taking back territory where (gay marriage) was wrongly enacted in places like New Hampshire and Iowa. That will be the next battleground, and we are confident of victory."

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Federal Court Rules Students Must Hear Pledge Of Allegiance

A federal appeals court has ruled that a New Hampshire Patriot Act requiring the "voluntary" recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance does not force religion on students. The Freedom From Religion Foundation had argued that even a so-called voluntary recitation of the words "under God" violated the Constitution and made outcasts of students unwilling to participate.

The panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on Friday rejected the claim that exposing children to group recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance violated their constitutional rights. The judges, a Clinton nominee, a George W. Bush nominee and an Obama nominee, agreed the pledge references religion, but they said its purpose is to encourage patriotism. The ruling affirms a 2009 ruling by U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe at the federal court in Concord. "In reciting the Pledge, students promise fidelity to our flag and our nation, not to any particular God, faith or church," wrote Chief Judge Sandra Lynch. "The New Hampshire School Patriot Act's primary effect is not the advancement of religion, but the advancement of patriotism through a pledge to the flag as a symbol of the nation."

Christianist website World Net Daily hailed the decision with this headline: "Court: Constitution 'does not require complete separation of church and state'." In 1954 the words "under God" were added to the Pledge after the Knights Of Columbus pressured members of Congress to make the change.

Tweet Of The Day - Brian Brown

Iowa's Supreme Court justices have been ousted thanks to NOM's campaign of lies and religious bigotry and their outright refusal to abide by state campaign finance laws. And with NOM's money, New Hampshire has seen a large number of anti-gay GOP state legislators swept into office. Therefore Brian Brown, who fucking literally should be in jail in numerous states, is predicting the coming overturn of marriage equality in both states.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Pro-Marriage Incumbent Gov. John Lynch Wins

NOM spent a LOT of money funding Lynch's opponent and to support GOP candidates in the New Hampshire legislature. But without a GOP governor, NOM's chances of overturning gay marriage in New Hampshire have been lessened significantly.

UPDATE: NOM's Brian Brown is tweeting that they have won a "veto-proof majority" of anti-gay state seats. More on this tomorrow.

NOM Attacks NH Gov. John Lynch

The Boston Globe reports today that NOM and an outfit called Cornerstone Action are spending $450K to attack New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, who is up for reelection. You may recall Lynch signing his state's marriage equality bill after insisting upon and getting new wording that specifically exempted churches performing same-sex ceremonies if they didn't want to. But even that wasn't good enough for NOM.

Titled "He's Changed," the ads say Lynch failed to keep his word on taxes, spending, public safety and gay marriage. The ad shows a clip of Lynch saying he opposed gay marriage. The announcer then says he signed the law and now is collecting campaign contributions from gay activists. "When John Lynch lied and betrayed the voters of New Hampshire by signing the same-sex marriage bill NOM vowed to hold him accountable. Unlike John Lynch, we keep our promises," NOM president Brian Brown said in a statement about the new ad. Lynch signed the gay marriage law last year, two years after he signed a civil unions law.

Lynch's supporters point out that New Hampshire is one of the few state's in the nation with an actual budget surplus.

New Hampshire LOL

(Tipped by JMG reader Brian)

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Mary Cheney Again Donates To Anti-Gay Candidate

Openly lesbian spawn of Darth, Mary Cheney, has again donated to an anti-gay candidate.

Cheney gave $500 on April 1 to Kelly Ayotte, a Republican 2010 Senate candidate from New Hampshire, according to the election records database Newsmeat. Ayotte is seeking to fill the seat of retiring GOP Sen. Judd Gregg. Ayotte told the Concord Monitor last August that she is “against same-sex marriage and believes marriage is between a man and a woman,” the paper reported. The New Hampshire news station WMUR 9 also notes Ayotte opposes same-sex marriage. "Support traditional marriage," reads her stance on the issue, as defined by “one man, one woman.” Three of the other four Republican hopefuls have expressed similar views.

Cheney, who claims to support marriage equality, has given money to anti-marriage candidates at least three other times.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: White Supremacist Runs For Office As A Republican

New Hampshire white supremacist Ryan Murdough is running for the state legislature as a Republican and the GOP is very unhappy about that.

Ryan J. Murdough, a 30-year-old who says he works with children with special needs at a youth center, is running for a seat on the State House in New Hampshire's 8th District. And he's doing it as a Republican. The self-professed "racist" is also supported by the American Third Position, a hate-spewing organization designed to "represent the political interests of White Americans, because no one else will." "For far too long white Americans have been told that diversity is something beneficial to their existence," Murdough wrote in a letter to the Concord Monitor. "New Hampshire residents must seek to preserve their racial identity if we want future generations to have to possibility to live in such a great state," he wrote. The Republican party in New Hampshire has made all efforts to distance itself from Murdough. "Mr. Murdough is a despicable racist," party spokesman Ryan Williams told the Union Leader. "His racist views are abhorrent and he is not welcome in the New Hampshire Republican Party."

Murdough says he registered as a Republican because it only cost a few dollars versus filing as an independent and being forced to gather signatures to make the ballot.

Police Arrest Four Men In Bizarre Hate Crime Assault On 14 Year-Old Boy

Police in Concord, New Hampshire have arrested four men for assaulting a mentally challenged 14 year-old boy and tattooing male genitalia and the words "poop dick" on his buttocks. Police say a 15 year-old high school student will also be charged.

Two of the men arrested yesterday have connections to white supremacy, prosecutors said. One of them also threatened to assault the victim with his genitals if he didn't keep quiet, police records show. "These crimes were committed with huge cruelty and insensitivity to a victim who was emotionally vulnerable and intellectually challenged," Prosecutor Scott Murray said yesterday at an arraignment in Concord District Court. For about a week leading up to the incident, Blake VanNest, 18, of 2 Jennings Drive, promised the victim that others would stop bullying him if he got a tattoo on his butt, the police said. "(VanNest) knew the victim was younger, unpopular and frequently picked on, and that (VanNest) had taken advantage of him based on this," Concord police Detective Wade Brown wrote in an affidavit.[snip]

"(VanNest) told him that he was going to get the tattoo one way or another," Brown's affidavit said. "Blake then took out his penis and pointed it at (the victim) telling him to pull down his pants or he would touch (the victim) with his penis." When the victim kneeled against the bench, Donald Wyman, 20, used a red permanent marker to sketch an outline of the tattoo, according to police records. Fisk soon began etching, court records show. For about 20 or 30 minutes, Fisk worked to draw the first five letters in block print. When the victim complained about the pain, Fisk said he'd punch him in the face if he didn't stop squirming, according to police records.

Police note that one of the arrested men has Confederate flag and swastika tattoos.

UPDATE: JMG reader Lane tips us that the Smoking Gun has the arrest report.

(Tipped by JMG reader Thomas)

NOM Goes After NH Gov. John Lynch

NOM is campaigning against the reelection of New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, claiming "he lied" about opposing same-sex marriage. Lynch did sign his state's marriage equality bill last June, but only after insisting upon and getting new wording that specifically exempted churches performing same-sex ceremonies if they didn't want to.