A Christian conservative New Hampshire
group on Monday said it would make another attempt to repeal gay
marriage in the upcoming legislative session.
Cornerstone Policy Research's
legislative agenda is based on its Families First Pledge for
candidates.
Under the pledge's section concerning
marriage, the group states it will work to “pass a law that repeals
gay 'marriage' and either restores civil unions for homosexuals or
restores the pre-civil union law in New Hampshire.”
“We fully expect our pledge signers
to introduce bills identified in our agenda,” spokesman Shannon
McGinley said in a statement.
She said more than 85 candidates had
signed the pledge. Monday was the first day incumbent House members
could file bills.
Possibly on board is New Hampshire
House Speaker Bill O'Brien, who said in July that he would make
another attempt to repeal the law if re-elected speaker.
“If our families are weak, then we’ll
never be able to have final fiscal responsibility, because if
government needs to step up for weakened families then there’s
going to be an unlimited call on government resources. One of the
things that makes our families strong is a traditional definition of
marriage and I firmly believe that,” O'Brien
said during an appearance on New Hampshire Public Radio's the
Exchange.
Last March, the Republican-controlled
House overwhelmingly voted against a bill which would have repealed
the state's 2-year-old gay marriage law. The measure, sponsored by
Rep. David Bates, sought to end gay nuptials in the state and give
gay and lesbian couples civil unions in its place. At the time,
nearly 2,000 gay couples had tied the knot.