Dear Legislators:
As a former Marine, I take freedom and liberty very seriously. And as a conservative, I find the effort to take away marriage from loving gay and lesbian couples not only to be wrong, but completely off task. This is not why we sent you to Concord. There’s a lot of work to do to fix our economy, create jobs and manage the state budget.
After completing my tour of duty in Iraq, I came home to New Hampshire to marry the woman of my dreams. Family means everything to us – as you can see from this picture of my brothers and me. I’m on the far left; the tall guy is my brother and best man, Calvin. He is gay. I hope he will one day ask me to be his best man when he decides to marry.
Limited government is not one that takes rights away from our family members, neighbors and co-workers. No real conservative believes government should be managing the personal lives of any decent law- abiding citizen of New Hampshire.
My brother is finally happy and comfortable with who he is. I am so proud of the man he has become, and no one has the right to take away his freedom to marry.
Craig Stowell
This is a letter published today in New Hampshire's Union Leader , a conservative-leaning newspaper, by an ex-Marine.
Tomorrow, the New Hampshire legislature will be holding hearings on whether or not to repeal New Hampshire's law granting same-sex couples marriage equality. Both Houses of the New Hampshire legislature now have Republican supermajorities hellbent on nullification, tax repeals, and bigotry.
As Representative Gary Richardson (D-Hopkinton), put it (in reference to a nullification bill regarding federal gun laws passed by the House yesterday):
These people are drunk with power, they really are.
and even though the Republican leadership has requested that these bills be 'held' and not voted on until next year, and even though recent polls have unequivocally shown that a large majority of New Hampshire voters don't want marriage equality repealed, it's not clear what will happen. As Mark Twain might have said
No person's life, liberty or marriage is safe while the New Hampshire legislature is in session.