The heavily Republican New Hampshire House passed a bill Tuesday prohibiting job and housing discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation by a 226-131 vote, despite strong objections from Governor Stephen Merrill.
The bill extends the current anti-discrimination laws in New Hampshire to include sexual orientation.
The current law already prohibits discrimination because of age, color, ethnic background, marital status, physical or mental disability, race and religious or political belief.
Last month, Merrill said the gay and lesbian anti-discrimination bill was divisive and unnecessary. Merrill said he would veto the bill if it passed in the House.
On Tuesday, Merrill's spokesman James Rivers said a decision to veto the bill had not been made, according to reports in The Boston Globe.
Gay activists at the College reacted favorably to the passage of the bill.
"I think this is a very positive step forward in New Hampshire history in realizing we need equal rights for everybody," said Trevor Burgess '94, president of the Dartmouth Gay and Lesbian Organization.
John Crane, co-convenor of the College's Coalition for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Concerns, said he was happy the bill passed.
"It's a very important step in what we hope is a changing political climate of New Hampshire for gay and lesbian people," Crane said.
Now that the House has passed the bill, it will go before the state Senate.
"We're in good shape for the Senate. What we have to do now is talk to the governor," Democratic House Representative William McCann told the Associated Press.
