You Betta Vote: Rupaul in New Hampshire "I am NOT Ron Paul"

There's no telling what might happen when America's best-known drag queen hits the presidential campaign trail.

Visiting New Hampshire just a few days before the state's primary, however, RuPaul made sure to clarify any lingering confusion voters may experience between him and that similarly-named Republican candidate, announcing, "I am not Ron Paul, and I am not running for president of the United States!"

The "Drag Race" host made a surprise appearance at Manchester's Red Arrow Diner, known as a must-stop on the presidential campaign trail, where scenes for the upcoming season of Logo's popular reality series, which debuts Jan. 30, were shot. Looking buttoned up as he interacting with guests, RuPaul whipped the crowd into a frenzy with a few choice quips. "You betta vote!" he told the crowd.

And anyone mistaking the drag queen for one of the nation's founding fathers actually wouldn't be too far off the mark, he noted: "Remember, this country was founded by a bunch of men wearing wigs!"

Bishop Peter Libasci Endorses Repeal Of Same-Sex Marriage

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I do now add to this prayer: help us to rediscover and strengthen the bonds of marriage and family. Human attempts to replace or redefine marriage do not respond adequately to the present situation of isolation, grief, and confusion. The wisdom of many millennia of human experience is not to cast aside truth, but to uphold it if society is to prosper and find peace.

"In this regard, I am encouraged that the New Hampshire General Court will have the opportunity in this coming year to vote to restore the traditional understanding of marriage, and I sincerely hope that the General Court will accomplish this important task. And if such will be the case, then we must, as a people dedicated to the common good, 'be there' as our young people say, for married couples and their family bond. May the year 2012 be a year in which we recapture the age-old knowledge of the place of marriage and the family as the foundations of society." - Bishop Peter Libasci, writing on the website of the Diocese of Manchester.

Should Presidential Candidates Get Involved with N.H. Marriage Debate?

Will marriage equality play a role in the New Hampshire primary?

With a vote on a bill that would repeal the state’s marriage equality law that could potentially coincide with the Jan. 10 presidential primary, this question remains all too real possibility. Will raising the issue with independent-minded New Hampshire voters prove an effective campaign strategy?

"My sense is that it would not serve a candidate’s interests in New Hampshire to highlight that issue," said Dante Scala, an associate professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire. "It’s just not something that most New Hampshire Republicans consider a key issue."

A UNH Survey Center poll conducted between Sept. 26 and Oct. 2 found that 62 percent of New Hampshire voters oppose efforts to repeal the law, while 81 percent of respondents said marriage equality in the Granite State has not impacted their life. Forty-four percent of New Hampshire voters said they are actually more likely to vote against a candidate who backs the bill.
A coalition of groups that oppose the repeal measure unveiled a new ad earlier this month with three Republicans and one Democrat who urge state lawmakers to vote against it, but this opposition has not stopped several GOP presidential candidates from speaking out in support of the bill.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told a gay Army veteran as he sat next to his husband in a Manchester restaurant earlier this month that he supports efforts to repeal the state’s marriage equality law. Texas Gov. Rick Perry applauded the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. David Bates (R-Windham,) and other lawmakers who back the measure in a speech he gave at the Cornerstone Action’s annual banquet in late October. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman described the federal Defense of Marriage Act as serving a "useful purpose" at an event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., earlier this month, but a volunteer for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told EDGE in the campaign’s downtown Manchester offices on Monday, Dec. 26, that Republican presidential candidates should stay out of the debate over the state’s marriage equality law.

"In fact, most New Hampshire Republicans with their party would spend less time and energy focusing on such issues," added Scala.

Advertisement

 

New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley had an overtly partisan response.

"Despite more Republican primary voters opposing the repeal of marriage equality than supporting it, marriage equality has not been an issue in the primary, namely because all of the candidates except Fred Karger support its repeal," he told EDGE, noting that he expects a major Republican presidential candidate will support marriage equality by the 2016 primary.

"It was a significant missed opportunity for one of the major candidates to break out of the pack by focusing on LGBT issues," said Buckley.

Are gay New Hampshire primary voters paying attention?

Peterborough resident Bill St. John was among the handful of patrons at the Breezeway, a gay bar in downtown Manchester, on a recent Tuesday night. A special education teacher, St. John said he would probably vote for Huntsman if he were a Republican.

"He seems... just very conservative, a good businessman again and somebody that can possibly-and I strongly say possibly-get this country back to where it belongs," he said. "There’s no reason why this country should be in the debt we’re in. We shouldn’t be trillions of dollars in debt."

St. John applauded Romney as a "wonderful businessman" who left Bain Capital to run the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He was far less certain whether Romney would make a good president.
"He left his company to save the Olympics and he did a wonderful job," said St. John. "He can do a great job as the president, but I believe he is... for a lack of [a] better [word] a little too prejudice for my taste. Politicians can say anything and say they’re going to do anything, but when you let us know who you are for so many years-you’ve been in the same religion since you’ve been a child, you’re not going to change your spots too easily."

 

 

Gay marriage repeal a top issue in New Hampshire

Repealing New Hampshire’s gay marriage law, legalizing casinos and changing the constitution to bar an income tax are among the hottest topics facing the Legislature heading into 2012, but lawmakers might not vote on these issues until after the Jan. 10 presidential primary.

House Republican Leader D.J. Bettencourt says the House most likely won’t cast its votes until Jan. 11 or Jan 18. Bettencourt says the presidential candidates should have the spotlight until after the primary.
"The presidential candidates have a hard enough time getting their message out. This is the time for them to shine. We want them to get all the attention possible,’’ said Bettencourt, of Salem.

When the Legislature convenes Jan. 4, it will instead take up a handful of vetoed bills before taking up legislation held over the summer and fall.

Both sides of the gay marriage debate expect the Republican-controlled House to pass the bill that would replace the law legalizing same-sex marriage with civil unions for any unmarried adults, including relatives. The measure would allow anyone to refuse to recognize civil unions.

The Republican-controlled Senate also is expected to support repealing gay marriage, but Senate Republican Leader Jeb Bradley said he can’t predict if there will be the votes needed to override a veto.

 

Democratic Gov. John Lynch promises to veto the bill if it reaches him.

Since the same-sex marriage law took effect last year, more than 1,800 gay couples have gotten married in New Hampshire, the state Division of Vital Records shows.
Though advocates of the repeal bill say those marriages would rema
in legal under the measure, critics aren’t so sure. They argue the bill is so flawed that existing marriages may not be recognized by the courts.
"Civil unions has to be in the bill if we’re going to pass something and marriages that occurred while legal have to be grandfathered,’’ Bradley said. "My understanding is the bill doesn’t do either of those things. For me, that is a problem, personally.’’

The House put off voting on the bill last session to keep the focus on the state budget. Republicans campaigned on promises they would pass legislation resulting in more jobs and GOP leaders did not want other issues to be a distraction.

But despite efforts to tamp down the debate, Republican presidential candidates were put on the spot to give their positions on gay marriage, not just the economy.

And a bipartisan group supporting the gay marriage law is soon launching a television ad defending it and urging lawmakers not to vote to repeal it. The 30-second ad shows people saying New Hampshire believes in freedom for everyone.