Passage of legislation in 2009 On March 18, 2009, the House Judiciary Committee sent a same-sex marriage bill—sponsored by representatives
Jim Splaine, Paul McEachern,
Edward Butler and Barbara Richardson—to the floor of the House of Representatives without a recommendation following a tied 10–10 vote. The legislation sought to repeal a
statutory ban enacted in 1987 that had made
same-sex marriages invalid. This ban was passed a few years before the passage of the federal
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA; ), which banned federal recognition of same-sex marriages. On March 26, the House voted 182–183, but after a motion to reconsider the first vote, the measure passed 186–179. On April 23, the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 3–2 recommended that the Senate defeat the bill, but a week later the Senate approved an amended version of the bill 13–11. The amended bill passed the House on May 6, 2009. Governor
John Lynch had yet to take a position on the legislation, and had five days to exercise his
veto. The bill would recognize out-of-state civil unions as marriages. In addition, couples in civil unions would be able to apply for
marriage licenses; however, if they did not apply for licenses their civil unions would be automatically converted into marriages on January 1, 2011. On May 14, Lynch, though personally opposed to same-sex marriages, said he would sign the bill provided it contained increased protections for churches against lawsuits if they refused to marry same-sex couples. Legislative leaders indicated on the same day that they would allow the changes. On May 20, 2009, the Senate passed the changes 14–10 along party lines, but the House unexpectedly failed to agree later in the day by a vote of 186–188. Opponents in that body tried to kill the bill, but failed 173 to 202. The House then voted 207–168 to ask the Senate to negotiate a compromise. The revised legislation was approved 14–10 by the Senate and 198–176 by the House on June 3, and signed by Governor Lynch shortly thereafter. Lynch was the second governor in the
United States to sign a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, the first being
John Baldacci of
Maine. Same-sex couples began marrying across New Hampshire on January 1, 2010, with several couples exchanging vows in front of the
New Hampshire State House in
Concord. The definition of marriage in New Hampshire became: From January 1, 2010, no new civil unions are established in the state. Parties to a valid civil union established before that date were able to have their marriages solemnized, provided they met the legal requirements of the state marriage laws. Additionally, such persons in civil unions established before January 1, 2010 were able to record their civil unions with the town or city clerk who recorded the civil union and receive a marriage license, with no additional fee or solemnization required. A civil union entered into before January 1, 2010, that had not been dissolved, annulled, or transformed into a marriage, was automatically converted to a marriage on January 1, 2011. The House defeated both of them on February 17, 2010. On October 25, 2011, the House Judiciary Committee voted 11–6 for a bill repealing same-sex marriage and establishing civil unions far more limited than the state's earlier civil unions. The new civil unions would not be covered by the state's anti-discrimination law and no one would be required to recognize them as the equivalent of opposite-sex marriages. The bill's effect on same-sex marriages already performed in the state was disputed. In January 2012, Representative David Bates, the principal sponsor of the legislation, said the bill would be the first legislative repeal of same-sex marriage in the United States, but Governor John Lynch announced he would veto any repeal of the state's same-sex marriage statute. New Hampshire Republicans were generally identified with the repeal effort and they controlled the 400-member House by a 3–1 margin. The House defeated a series of attempts to modify the bill to attract moderate support by providing same-sex couples with an alternative to marriage. Bates' own amendment to delay the bill's effective date until March 31 so a non-binding
referendum on the issue of same-sex marriage could be held in November failed on a vote of 162–188, with 96 of the chamber's 293 Republicans voting against the referendum. Opposing the referendum, Representative
Shawn Jasper, the House Deputy Majority Leader, said: "We are the most representative body in the country, if not the world. If we feel the need to go to our constituents and ask them a question, we are clearly in trouble." The
Nashua Telegraph termed the failure of the repeal effort "a shocking setback". Subsequently, Democrat
Maggie Hassan, a supporter of same-sex marriage, won the
2012 gubernatorial election, and Democrats took control of the House. Since then, lawmakers have not introduced any bills to repeal same-sex marriage.
Later legislation For several years following the legalization of same-sex marriage, state statutes invalidated any marriage contracted in New Hampshire by non-residents if their intended state of residence would not recognize the validity of the marriage. On July 10, 2014, Governor Hassan signed legislation—approved 217–119 by the House and 24–0 by the Senate—designed to clarify the status of same-sex marriages. It established that same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions would be recognized in New Hampshire as valid from the date they were contracted, even if they predated the state's recognition of same-sex marriage. It also provided that New Hampshire would recognize the same-sex marriages of non-residents, regardless of whether their home jurisdiction recognizes such marriages, and that individuals in civil unions from other jurisdictions could marry in New Hampshire without first dissolving their civil union. In May 2018, the General Court passed legislation establishing a uniform, minimum
marriageable age at 16. Previously, same-sex couples could only marry from the age of 18, while heterosexual partners could marry at
13 for women and 14 for men. On June 18, 2018, Governor
Chris Sununu signed the bill into law, and it went into effect on January 1, 2019. In January 2026, Representative
Alice Wade introduced legislation to enshrine the right to same-sex marriage in the New Hampshire Constitution. "There are Granite Staters who have reached out to me that have been married for over a decade and don't know how long they'll have that right. I've heard from couples who have already started planning where they'd move to if marriage equality is overturned, leaving New Hampshire, their jobs, and their communities behind just to keep their families intact," said Wade, who introduced the bill after hearing from married same-sex couples who were worried at the
U.S. Supreme Court overturning its ruling in
Obergefell v. Hodges. Representative
Joe Alexander Jr., who is openly gay, questioned whether the bill was necessary: "If there's been no proposals whatsoever of rolling back marriage equality, why would we need this?"
Economic impact A
University of California, Los Angeles study from March 2009 estimated the impact of allowing same-sex couples to marry on New Hampshire's state budget. The study concluded that allowing same-sex couples to marry, as opposed to the old civil union scheme, would result in a net gain of approximately
$500,000 each year for the state. This net impact would be the result of savings in expenditures on state means-tested public benefits programs and an increase in meals and room tax revenues from increased wedding-related tourism.
Demographics and marriage statistics Data from the
2000 U.S. census showed that 2,703 same-sex couples were living in New Hampshire. By 2005, this had increased to 5,578 couples, likely attributed to same-sex couples' growing willingness to disclose their partnerships on government surveys. Same-sex couples lived in all
counties of the state, and constituted 0.9% of coupled households and 0.6% of all households in the state. Most couples lived in
Hillsborough,
Rockingham and
Merrimack counties, but the counties with the highest percentage of same-sex couples were
Cheshire (0.63% of all county households) and
Belknap (0.61%). Same-sex partners in New Hampshire were on average younger than opposite-sex partners, and more likely to be employed. However, the average and median household incomes of same-sex couples were lower than different-sex couples, and same-sex couples were also far less likely to own a home than opposite-sex partners. 19% of same-sex couples in New Hampshire were raising children under the age of 18, with an estimated 1,614 children living in households headed by same-sex couples in 2005. By the end of 2008, approximately 600 civil union licenses had been issued by the state, while approximately 8,700 marriage licenses were issued by the state during the same period. By spring 2012, 1,900 same-sex couples had married in New Hampshire. The
2020 U.S. census showed that there were 3,508 married same-sex couple households (1,277 male couples and 2,231 female couples) and 1,987 unmarried same-sex couple households in New Hampshire. ==Public opinion==