Need more information? Learn Why Marriage is Important! What are the Rights and Responsibilities of Marriage?

You are here:

::	When Only Marriage Will Do
::	Protections and Responsibilities of Marriage in New Hampshire
::	Comparison of Civil vs. Religious Marriage
::	What the Supreme Court Has Said About Marriage

:: Print This Page

When Only Marriage Will Do

NHFTM Education fund seeks the rights and responsibility of marriage in New Hampshire. Marriage is more than just a word. It is a cultural status that conveys an understanding of the relationship involved. There are 399 New Hampshire laws and over 1,000 federal laws that apply to the rights and responsibilities pertaining to marriage. Marriage provides protections for families in four important areas:

Civil Marriage	Civil Unions

Common Understanding:

Marriage is a universally understood institution. Government, business, and society understand the term marriage.	Not everyone understands what a civil union is, and thus civil unions encounter more resistance and are treated differently from marriages.

Portability:

Marriage is acknowledged by all states and the federal government regardless of the individual state laws where the marriage was performed.	Civil Unions do not offer legal protections outside of the state in which they were performed.

Federal Laws:

The federal government offers approximately 1,040 protections and responsibilities to married couples.	Civil Unions are not covered under these federal provisions.

Federal Preemption:

If the federal government and a state have legislation on the same issue, federal law overrides state law. Therefore only marriage ensures equality for lesbian and gay couples throughout the United States.	Civil unions are not safe from federal preemption and therefore leave a family vulnerable to termination of their rights as a unit.

Marriage provides and expects many things. There are the hundreds of state rights and responsibilities. Marriage also carries with it a certain understanding of responsibility and stability in one's relationship. It is a cultural status that, although not everyone may agree with, conveys an understanding of the relationship involved. When a couple is married, the commitment they make to each other is expected to last a lifetime. Through marriage, that commitment is not only a private statement, but a public one as well.

Only Marriage -- not Civil Unions nor domestic partnership -- will
allow gay and lesbian couples equal status with their peers.


Copyright . All rights reserved. New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Education Fund For questions email: webmaster@nhfreedomtomarry.org Privacy Policy \| Contact Us \| Home page	website empowered by: Silverleaf Web Design