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Gene Robinson Speaks in Favor of New Hampshire Civil Unions April 2007 V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Church's sole openly gay bishop, added his voice to New Hampshire's civil unions debate, saying legalizing same-sex unions doesn't threaten religion or families. Robinson testified at a state senate hearing on civil unions, which passed the house last week. He said he went to the legislature as a religious leader and a New Hampshire citizen seeking equality for himself and his partner of nearly 20 years. “What we seek in the civil realm is the equal treatment by the state government in supporting this development of our relationship with the legal, financial, and societal underpinnings which are afforded married couples at the very moment they say ‘I do,’ ” he said. Church, family, and the state collided Tuesday under the statehouse dome as the senate took a first look at the bill, which if passed would make New Hampshire the fourth state to allow gay and lesbian couples to enter civil unions. Canada and Massachusetts allow same-sex marriage. Vermont, New Jersey, and Connecticut provide civil unions. New Hampshire's civil unions bill would give gay and lesbian couples all the state rights of marriage, though not the federal rights. Robinson suggested families would flourish under civil unions. “Would that we could get all heterosexual couples to take these commitments and responsibilities so seriously,” he said.
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www.affirmation.org