Marriage equality protects all families

Friday, January 29, 2010

To the Editor:

A letter-writer in the last issue of the Hollis-Brookline Journal remarked that the town warrant article on gay marriage isn’t about marriage equality, it’s about representation and voting, to which I say, hog wash.

It’s all about marriage equality and those who want to take it away and force discrimination into our state’s Constitution.

I gave testimony against two mean-spirited bills in Concord – HB-1590 and CACR28 – both intending to overturn marriage equality in New Hampshire.

Supporters of the bills ranted and raved about their religious convictions, how their religious beliefs are supposed to be enshrined in New Hampshire law and that their representatives did not vote the way they wanted. Some went so far as to threaten members of the hearing committee. Shame on you.

Back 150 years ago, some very brave people took the first steps to outlaw slavery in the United States – a view most definitely not popular! In fact, its opponents went to war to fight it.

Likewise, adding civil rights that allowed women to vote and own property or marry whom they wanted would surely have been voted down by a majority of the populace. Yet it was these bold leaders who knew that it was the right and the proper thing to do despite its unpopularity.

Now many years later it’s hard to imagine that slavery ever existed or that women didn’t have rights.

We have many different types of families today with moms, dads, couples, single parents and children. Marriage equality now protects ALL New Hampshire families against discrimination.

We entrust faith in our elected representatives and senators to make New Hampshire a better place to live. We understand that we do not have the time to research, field public opinion or become experts on the hundreds of issues that face our state each year so we elect our representatives to do this for us.

Believe me when I say that they spend an inordinate amount of their lives serving us despite it often being a thankless job.

Today, a few religious extremists have collected enough signatures to put the non-binding issue of marriage equality on town warrants. They are using marriage equality as a get-out-the-vote tool for their personal agenda of discrimination against our families.

I encourage all fair-minded citizens to attend upcoming town meetings, understand the impact of the warrant articles and vote for what you believe is the right thing to do.

ROBERT TONNEBERGER

Brookline