New Hampshire House Rejects Bill Allowing Wedding Providers To Refuse Gay Couples
- By
- On Top Magazine Staff
- | March 15, 2012
The New Hampshire House on Wednesday voted down a bill which would have permitted wedding providers to refuse gay and lesbian couples.
Lawmakers overwhelming rejected the bill with a 246-85 vote, the AP reported.
The measure sought to allow business owners to withhold wedding-related goods and services if they believe it would violate their conscience or religious faith. While the bill does not specifically list gay couples, a January hearing on the bill made it clear they were being targeted.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Jerry Bergevin, a Republican from Manchester, has previously said that his bill “would hardly have any effect on same-sex marriage in New Hampshire, as there are many businesses in New Hampshire.”
Bergevin has also filed bills which would mandate Bible study and require evolution be taught as a theory.
Opponents of the measure have called it “codified discrimination.”
The state's two-year-old gay marriage law has come under frequent attack since Republicans regained control of both houses of the legislature in 2010.
A vote on a bill which would repeal the marriage law is expected to take place possibly as early as next week.