The White House has responded to a question from Washington Blade reporter Chris Johnson asked earlier this week at a press briefing about how Obama feels about efforts to repeal New Hampshire's marriage equality law:
“While the president does not weigh in on every single action taken by legislative bodies in our country, the record is clear that the president has long opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same-sex couples,” said White House spokesperson Shin Inouye. “The president believes strongly in stopping laws designed to take rights away.”
The statement doesn’t explicitly express support for same-sex marriage or mention New Hampshire. At the same time, the statement doesn’t include language found in previous White House statements on marriage that states should “determine for themselves how best to uphold the rights of their own citizens.” Such language was included in the White House response to the North Carolina anti-gay marriage measure that will be on the ballot in May.
EDGE reporter Michael Lavers reported yesterday on his personal blog that New Hampshire lawmakers were planning to vote on the measure next week:
The measure is expected to pass in the Republican-controlled state Legislature, but Gov. John Lynch, who signed the marriage equality bill into law in 2009, has said he would veto the measure. It remains unclear whether there are enough votes to override the governor’s veto.