New Hampshire

Statewide Relationship Recognition
no Licenses marriages for same-sex couples.
yes Honors marriages of same-sex couples from other jurisdictions as civil unions.
yes Relationship recognition for same-sex couples:
Civil Unions.

See New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated, Title XLIII §§ 457:1, 457:2, 457:3 and 457:43.

  • 2007 New Hampshire passes a comprehensive civil unions law, effective January 1, 2008, granting many of the same rights and obligations of marriage to same-sex couples – and recognizing civil unions and same-sex marriages formed in other jurisdictions as civil unions.
  • 2004 New Hampshire passes a law creating a commission to study all aspects of same sex civil marriage and “legal equivalents thereof” and expressly denies recognition of same-sex marriages formed in other jurisdictions.
  • 2000 Anti-marriage bill blocked. HB 1293: Rep. Gary Torressen (R) introduced another anti-marriage bill declaring invalid the lawful marriages of same-sex couples. On March 29, the House of Representatives soundly rejected it by a vote of 128–232.
  • 1987 New Hampshire amends its marriage laws to prohibit a man from marrying another man, and to prohibit a woman from marrying another woman.

See New Hampshire Revised Statutes Chapter 457 (Marriages), 457-A (Civil Unions) and 457-A:8 (Other Jurisdictions)

Statewide Employment Protections
yes Private employment protections based on sexual orientation.
no Private employment protections based on gender identity.
yes Public (state) employment protections based on sexual orientation.
- Public (state) employment protections based on gender identity.

See R.S.A. §§ 354-A:6 and 21-I:42, 52, and 58

Statewide Parenting Laws
Who May Adopt Unmarried adult; married persons must generally petition together. N.H. Rev. Stat. 170-B:4
Second Parent Adoptions Not yet permitted.
Notes Statute banning adoption by any lesbian or gay person repealed in 1999

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