NH
By Raymond Buckley New Hampshire has been a quiet hot bed of GLBT political activity for years. Concerned activists and politicians have worked so hard that New Hampshire is firmly ranked as one of the top ten states for gays and lesbians to live in. In fact, New Hampshire was ranked as fifth in the nation with only Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Rhode Island ranking slightly better.
Through a coordinated effort and a strategic plan laid out by New Hampshire’s GLBT political leaders, gays and lesbians are at the table at every level of government in the state. From the school board to the State House, openly gay and lesbian officials are working to advance GLBT equality. On the local level several openly gay and lesbian candidates were elected in November. Former state representative Dana Hilliard was elected to the Somersworth City Council, Nashua School Board member Tim Nickerson was elected to the Nashua Board of Alderman, and Marlene Lein was reelected in March as the town moderator of Hooksett.
On the state level New Hampshire continues to have an impressive number of openly gay and lesbian officials. The NH GLBT Caucus at the State House is now up to six making it the largest GLBT caucus in the country. The caucus includes Raymond Buckley from Manchester, Marlene Dechane from Barrington, Chris Hughes from Somersworth, McKim Mitchell from Chesterfield, Nick Panagopoulos from Manchester, and Jim Splaine from Portsmouth.
On the national level Rick Trombly and Michael Colby were elected to the national board of the Stonewall Democrats. Rick Trombly has also assumed the leadership role of co-chair of National Stonewall and is working to mobilize gays and lesbians all over the country.
On the political front, several openly gay and lesbian leaders are working to ensure that GLBT issues stay on the front burner by working to elect straight allies to political office. Jim Splaine is working for gubernatorial candidate Jim Normand. Michael Colby is consulting with gubernatorial candidate Beverly Hollingworth, congressional candidate Martha Fuller Clark, and executive council candidate John Kacavas. Rick Trombly is working for NEA-NH doing political education for teachers and lobbying the State House. Raymond Buckley continues to consult on the national and state levels with presidential and congressional candidates as well as serving on the Democratic National Committee as the Eastern Regional Chair on the Executive Committee of the DNC. Mo Baxley and McKim Mitchell continue to build the New Hampshire Stonewall Democrats which is New Hampshire’s only statewide political GLBT organization.
To get more involved in politics or to find out what is happening in the legislature please visit NH Stonewall website.