Marriage equality was made law in New Hampshire in 2009 by the state legislature. In 2010, Republicans reclaimed the legislature in a big way. Backlash against gay marriage? Apparently not:
WMUR/UNH (PDF). 9/26-10/2 (February results). MoE ±4.4%.
Q:As you may know, New Hampshire legalized marriage between gay and lesbian couples in 2009. Recently, there has been an effort in the State Legislature to repeal this law. Would you say you support or oppose the effort to
repeal legalized gay marriage in New Hampshire?
Strongly Oppose: 50 (51)
Somewhat Oppose: 12 (11)
Strongly Support: 22 (24)
Somewhat Support: 5 (5)
Neutral/Don’t Know: 11 (9)
The poll also found that supporters of marriage equality were more likely to hold a legislator's vote for repeal against them than were anti-equality voters to penalize a legislator for a vote against repeal.
As in PPP's recent poll of attitudes toward marriage equality in Massachusetts, most people just don't think it's had any impact on their own lives:
"Now thinking about your personal life... do you think that legalizing marriage between gay and lesbian couples has had a major impact on YOU ... a minor impact ... or no impact at all?"
Major Impact: 6%
Minor Impact: 12%
No Impact At All: 81%
Don’t Know / No Opinion: 1%
One caveat on this poll is that it comes from UNH, which has a mixed history. So while this poll is good news, take it with a handful of salt just like we took that January 2010 UNH poll showing Martha Coakley with a healthy lead over Scott Brown.
That said, as in the PPP Massachusetts poll, check out the number saying that marriage equality has made no difference in their lives. As I wrote about Massachusetts, "it turns out that unless you are gay, or a passionate advocate for equality, or a passionate advocate for inequality, it just doesn't change your life if other people can marry the ones they love," and it's a great thing when people realize it.
Republican leadership in the New Hampshire legislature is just crazy enough to look at these numbers and vote to repeal gay marriage anyway, and WMUR reports that they are planning to take it up in January. But hopefully this will help change their minds.