“This is the number one issue for us as we move forward.”
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NH Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley
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Those were the words of NH party chair Ray Buckley at the April 14th meeting of the Belknap County Democrats. What was he referring to? Property taxes? The state budget? Perhaps something to do with the environment? Was he talking about protecting children against predators? How about improving education in general? No, we could only wish that one of these matters was what Chairman Buckley was speaking about at the crowded meeting featuring presidential aspirant Joe Biden. No, what Buckley was referring to, accompanied by thunderous cheers from the attendees, was civil unions.
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That’s right—the newly-minted leader of the majority party here in the Granite State has declared this to be the burning issue of our time. Even though I was at a meeting of Democrats and knew that I would hear much that I would disagree with, watching those gathered so loudly and excitedly cheering and applauding for this new special right for same-sex couples was disconcerting.
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Following the chairman’s pep-talk rallying the forces in favor of state-sanctioned homosexual relationships, state representative Gail Morrison produced a petition for all to sign urging Gov. Lynch to support the measure. I thought someone was going to get hurt in the ensuing stampede of those wanting to sign. My wife and I, in attendance to hear Sen. Biden, were incredulous at the spectacle. While we knew that Democrats were favorable to this matter, we had no idea of the extent and depth of the support.
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Is this what voters bargained for when they chose Democrats to run our state? Do Joe and Jane Sixpack really believe that New Hampshire should be one of a small handful of states that officially recognizes gay relationships? Do you agree that it is the single, most important issue facing the state as we move forward? When voting back in November, were you thinking that we just have to fix this unfair situation in which men can’t marry their boyfriends or girls can’t legalize their relationship with their same-gendered “partner”? Me neither. Yet, here we are.
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