civil union applications come flooding in

Beginning Dec. 10, applications for civil union licenses were made available in communities across New Hampshire. Although couples must wait until Tuesday, Jan. 1, to hold their legal ceremonies, the application process marks one more step toward full marriage equality.

To apply, couples must pay $45 and bring a photo ID to their town or city hall, according to Kelli Barnaby, city clerk for Portsmouth. Individuals who were previously married must present certification of death, divorce or dissolution papers. As of Thursday, Dec. 13, four applications had been picked up in Portsmouth, Barnaby said.

“We consider it a real civil rights milestone,” said Reverend Roberta Finkelstein of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Portsmouth. On Tuesday, Jan. 1, the UU Church will commemorate the new civil union law with a special celebration. “It’s a service and a party,” Finkelstein said. The event will include music, speakers, advocacy tables and a potluck lunch. So far, one couple has scheduled to have a civil union ceremony at the event. The celebration is meant to “remind ourselves and all of our allies that this is just one step to full marriage equality,” Finkelstein said. The event, which is open to the public, begins at noon. Another celebration will take place at the State House in Concord at 12:01 a.m., on the early morning of Jan. 1.

State officials have been busy dealing with the logistics of the new law, according to N.H. State Rep. Jim Splaine (D-Portsmouth). A committee was formed to create new applications, distribute them across New Hampshire and educate local clerks on how to administer the forms. As of Tuesday, Dec. 11, 32 couples had filed for civil union licenses, Splaine said.

Splaine regrets that he and his partner, who died several years ago, were never able to get a civil union. But, regardless of his personal misfortune, Splaine is happy that New Hampshire has passed the law.

“The state government really gets it that this is a good thing, that this is a fantastic way to show that here in New Hampshire, we can treat people equally,” he said.

Splaine also believes that young gay and lesbian people will be able to see images of happy same-sex couples in the media and feel hopeful for their futures.

“When they see the pictures of loving couples, seeing that in our newspapers, to me that’s a tremendous way of breaking down the discrimination we have in this country,” he said.

Splaine looks forward to the next fight in the ongoing struggle for marriage equality. He noted that a pending bill in the state legislature would repeal part of the civil union law. If that bill passes, New Hampshire would not have to recognize same sex marriages and civil unions from other states.

NHPR to air holiday programs

New Hampshire Public Radio will air a series of special holiday programs beginning Sunday, Dec. 23, two days before Christmas. The programs will include holiday songs, poems and interviews, detailing traditions and celebrations from around the nation and world.

The festivities begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday, when Robert Aubry Davis will host an hour-long show called “Lessons and Carols from Washington National Cathedral.” The show will combine Biblical readings about Jesus Christ’s birth with old and new carols. A two-hour holiday music program, “New Traditions from NHPR,” will follow, then “Footprints to Paradise: A Mediaeval Christmas 2007,” with the vocal quartert New York Polyphony, and finally, “The Pleasures of Winter,” with folk duo Jay Ungar and Molly Mason.

On Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, special programming will air throughout the day, beginning at 9 a.m. with “I Saw Three Ships: From Jamestown to the World.” Other Monday programs include “Carols for Dancing,” “Jazz at Lincoln Center: Red Hot Holiday Stomp,” “Putumayo New Orleans Christmas,” “Peter Ostroushko’s Heartland Holiday Concert 2007” and “St. Olaf Christmas Festival.”

On Christmas Day, Dec. 25, holiday specials begin at 9 a.m. with “The Rose Ensemble 2007,” followed by “Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols,” “Welcome Christmas!,” “The Retro Cocktail Hour Christmas Special,” “Echoes of Christmas,” “Christmas with the Philadelphia Singers” and “Fear Not: For Behold.”

Other special holiday programs will air in the days following Christmas, including “Chanticleer Christmas,” “A Celebration of the Winter Solstice 2007” and “A Season’s Griot 2007.” On New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, the station will air “Watch Night,” a vigil detailing the holiday’s significance for African American churches.
For more information, visit www.nhpr.org.

N.H. price tag for Iraq War: nearly $2 billion

The Iraq War has cost New Hampshire taxpayers $1.9 billion so far and is expected to hit $2.5 billion next year if President Bush’s funding request goes through, according to the National Priorities Project.

The NPP, a national research group, has provided war costs for each state, city and congressional district in the country. The total cost of the war already approaches half a trillion dollars, according to the group, and is rising at a rate of approximately $275 million per day. That equates to $4,100 per household so far, not including the long-term health care costs of returning veterans. President Bush has requested an additional $155 billion in war funding.

“Before choosing our next president, voters deserve to know where the candidates stand on our national priorities,” NPP executive director Greg Speeter said in a release. “When the money New Hampshire taxpayers have spent on the war could have provided over 97,000 kids in the state with health care instead, the stakes are extremely high.”

A breakdown of major N.H. cities shows that $137 million has been spent in Nashua, $133 million in Manchester and $53 million in Concord. If Bush’s latest request is granted, the cost to N.H. taxpayers next year would be $636 million, according to NPP.

In addition to the money spent in Iraq, the war has taken an immeasurable toll on human life. Almost 4,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq, and more than 60,000 have been wounded. Dwarfing those figures are the 700,000 Iraqis who have been killed in the war, and the 4 million refugees who have been displaced.

“No one is exempt from the impact and the consequences of this war,” Speeter said. “New Hampshire voters face an extraordinary opportunity to demand that each candidate acknowledge the cost on every level and to demand some answers.”