More Tire Tracks…

New England states protect gender identity and expression and the last holdout is New Hampshire and the Senate passed a constitutional amendment (CACR 017) to provide protect for sexual orientation.

N.H. Senate supports amending constitution to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation
Concord Monitor
By KATHLEEN RONAYNE
Friday, March 14, 2014

Senators unanimously endorsed an amendment to the state Constitution yesterday that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. If the amendment also passes the House, it then needs support from two-thirds of voters in November.

The state Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, creed, color, sex or national origin. New Hampshire already has statutes in place that prevent businesses from discrimination against people based on sexual orientation. This amendment would prohibit discrimination by any individuals or the state itself.
[…]
New Hampshire is favorable now to same-sex marriage and rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, but amending the Constitution would ensure those protections forever, Pierce [Sen. David Pierce is the primary amendment sponsor and an openly gay Senator] said. The state passed marriage equality in 2009, but there were efforts to repeal it under a Republican-led Legislature in 2012.

The Senator’s remarks about the time being right to ensure protections lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community seem to once again to really mean just lesbians and gays and not us. The amendment was passed unanimously (with the addition of an amendment to the bill to change “All men” to “All individuals”) by the Senate yesterday and the amendment reads in part,

Art.] 2. [Natural Rights.] All men have certain natural, essential, and inherent rights - among which are, the enjoying and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing, and protecting, property; and, in a word, of seeking and obtaining happiness. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by this state on account of race, creed, color, sex [or], national origin, or sexual orientation.

If the bill passes the House it will then be put on the November ballot.

Thump, thump…