Louisiana and New Hampshire Approve Bill Banning Gay Marriage
While the national leaders are debating on whether or not the U.S. Constitution should outlaw gay marriages, Louisiana and New Hampshire have approved a bill outlaw gay marriages in their state constitution.
Louisiana and New Hampshire have long recognized marriage as the union between a man and a woman.
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, of Louisiana have filed House Bill 61 for the legislative session that begins March 29 to amend the Louisiana Constitution to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman .
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Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Tuesday that although she doesn’t feel it was necessary to ban same-sex marriage under the constitution since it is already declared in state law, she said “marriage is a sacrament and we should respect the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.”
New Hampshire committee voted 4-1 on Tuesday in favor of the bill which also defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Before the approval of the bill, Sen. Jane O’Hean, R-Nahua, proposed an amendment to allow of civil unions between gay couples but it failed on a 3-2 vote.
Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature and then go directly to the people for a vote.
