Maine 5th State To Pass Gay Marriage
NEW YORK, May 6 -- Gay rights advocates celebrated swift and unexpected twin victories in New England on Wednesday when Maine became the fifth state to legalize same-sex marriage and New Hampshire's legislature shortly afterward sent a marriage equality bill to the governor.
If Gov. John Lynch (D) signs the New Hampshire bill or allows it to become law without his signature, New Hampshire will become the sixth state to legalize marriages of same-sex couples, leaving Rhode Island as the only New England holdout.
The movement in Maine and New Hampshire came faster than even gay rights advocates had expected and with bipartisan support in both places, suggesting that the question of same-sex marriage is losing some of its resonance as a divisive societal and political issue, at least in the Northeast.
"There is no doubt there is a shift in attitudes and opinions," said Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Massachusetts-based Family Equality Council, which advocates legalization of gay marriage. "We're seeing it in poll after poll. We're seeing it at lunch counters and over kitchen tables."