Marriage debate continues in New Hampshire

As I pack for my trip to New Hampshire tomorrow, lawmakers in Concord continue to debate a bill that would extend marriage to same-sex couples.

The state Senate is scheduled to hear testimony from House Bill 436 supporters and opponents on Wednesday. A group of HB 436 supporters from the University of New Hampshire-Durham are among those expected to attend the hearing.

Governor John Lynch signed the state's civil union bill into law in 2007. It remains unclear as to whether he would sign HB 436 if it came across his desk, but New Hampshire would become the fourth state in the country to allow same-sex couples to marry.

Activists in the Granite State and across the country will certainly keep a close eye on Concord on Wednesday. Vermont lawmakers last week successfully overrode Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill that allows same-sex couples to marry. And gays and lesbians can begin to get married in Iowa later this month.

New Hampshire is certainly the latest in a growing number of battleground states in the push to secure marriage for same-sex couples. And as a native Granite Stater, I find it nothing short of remarkable Concord lawmakers even debated--and let alone passed--HB 436. Progress continues to take the state in a new and arguably very exciting direction...