Poll: Romney Remains N.H. Frontrunner

A new poll from WMUR and the University of New Hampshire indicates that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney remains the clear frontrunner, but a third of likely Republican primary voters remain undecided.

Forty-four percent of likely Republican primary voters said they would vote for Romney, up from 39 percent two weeks ago. Texas Congressman Ron Paul came in second place with 20 percent, while eight percent of likely GOP primary voters said they would vote for either former House Speaker Newt Gingrich or former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Santorum, who has come under fire for his opposition to marriage for same-sex couples, has seen his support increase by five percentage points since he nearly won the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. Gingrich's support, however, has dropped by nine percentage points over the last two weeks.

The UNH Survey Center surveyed 631 likely Republican primary voters between Jan. 2-5.

My day in New Hampshire

It was a good old gay time today at the University of New Hampshire in Durham as students, faculty, staff and even some alumni ate pancakes and received a healthy dose of inspiration and activism.

UNH's annual Pancake Breakfast pays tribute to a group of gay students who placed a $2,000 bid in a 1974 auction to have breakfast with then-Gov. Meldrim Thomson, Jr. Thomson once threatened to block UNH's funding after members of the Gay Students Organization held a dance and performed a play on the Durham campus, but he would almost certainly not recognize the Granite State and its increasingly progressive reputation today.

Hundreds of people gathered in Concord today to attend the state Senate Judiciary Committee's hearings on a bill that would extend marriage to same-sex couples. Openly gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson was among those who testified in support of the proposed legislation.

The House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill late last month that would add gender identity and expression to the state's non-discrimination statutes. And lawmakers have begun to debate the possible repeal of the death penalty. Times have certainly changed in my native New Hampshire!

On a much different note, the weather has been simply gorgeous since I arrived yesterday afternoon. And I spent a couple of hours along the Seacoast this afternoon. I drove from Portsmouth to Hampton Beach along the oceanfront Route 1A. The drive is roughly 20 miles and passes along rocky coves, tide pools and sandy beaches with sweeping vistas of the Isles of Shoals and even parts of Cape Ann in Massachusetts. Here are a handful of pictures...



A cemetery in New Castle



Along Route 1A near Odiorne Point in Rye



Wallis Sands in Rye



Wallis Sands jetty



Hampton Beach

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...

What is diversity?

The question posed in the headline is one I have asked myself over the last few days upon my return from New Hampshire on Tuesday afternoon. The University of New Hampshire inducted 17 alumni, including myself, into its Diversity Hall of Fame last Sunday in a ceremony that was followed by a gala dinner on campus in Durham. I reconnected with two classmates I had not seen since I moved to New York. My parents and good friend Adam joined me at the ceremony, and I truly felt honored to attend. That said; I was shocked and somewhat puzzled to receive a Facebook message from one of my fellow inductees that implies his concept of God disapproves homosexuality.

This person made the argument in the context of people following the "logic of the "Social Justice" movement" and how "this movement is not always aligned with GOD!" This person further pointed to how "the Social Justice movement is now being used to push forward the agenda of homosexuality." And this person concludes the "Bible is clear with this issue, and it is important that we do not start to out-think GOD whose ways and thoughts are much higher than ours!"

The UNH administrators who organized the Diversity Hall of Fame certainly have the best of intentions. They are honorable people with the noblest of intentions to raise the profile of non-white heterosexual people in a state where the population remains more than 90 percent Caucasian. This charge is very honorable. But I do question the process through which the nominees are chosen in the context of this person's homophobic comments. I am a 26-year-old gay man who grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire. I am proud of who I am. And I am equally as proud of the work I did during my undergraduate career to advance inclusion and diversity at UNH. But I fear, however, this person's nomination threatens to make a farce out of an event that promised to celebrate those who advance inclusion and diversity in their respective post-UNH communities. These comments fail to deliver on both of these promises. And university officials should look beyond their fundraising and recruitment goals in future attempts to define diversity. This alum expects nothing less.

New Hampshire Tour: Part II

It's a cool early November afternoon here in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as I wait for my friend Michele at a coffee shop. I spend the morning visiting my alma mater, the University of New Hampshire, and developed a deep sense of nostalgia for the place which inevitably provided me the personal strength to come out more than six years ago. The buzz surrounding U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's visit has come and gone. The autumn leaves are finally dropping after a very warm October. And college students in Birkenstocks, puffy vests and gray sweatshirts traverse the tranquil Northern New England campus.

I met UNH's LGBT coordinator and reconnected with a number of former colleagues and classmates with whom I worked and studied during my undergraduate academic career. New York remains my home with no immediate plans to leave. But I must admit it was a bit refreshing to return to such a tight-knit and committed LGBT community in Durham. Drama and personal politics certainly remain. It was refreshing, however, to talk with activists (and all-around good people) who don't immediately point out their personal agendas or immediately blast those who don't subscribe to it. A true breath of crisp November air!

Are Gays More Racist Than Straights?

I had an IM conversation yesterday with the man I am currently dating about racism within the gay community. The exchange stemmed around racial insults from the previous evening at an Uptown bar but the incident seemed to confirm a theory close [gay and straight] friends inside and outside the movement have relayed to me over the years: gay men are more racist than their heterosexual counterparts.

Theories are sometimes not based in fact but my numerous experiences within the movement for gay rights -- and life -- sometimes force me to conclude otherwise. One of the most racially insensitive people I have ever met is a former University of New Hampshire classmate who routinely sought to put his own agenda above the other students, administrators and even local activists. The collective movement for gay rights often sends a similar message through its efforts [or lack there of] to stop the HIV/AIDS epidemic within communities of color, to support activists in Bushwick and other predominately neighborhoods of color and to remedy other problems within these populations. This inaction could stem from a lack of knowledge or resources. Yet it remains a highly unfortunate fact some gay man choose to oppress their brothers and sisters of color through their continued racist and discriminatory ideals. These gays, one can certainly argue, have no right to inflict this harm because their local, state and national governments continue to stigmatize and discriminate against. There is certainly no easy solution to remedy racism within the gay community but a sad irony remains.