CARNAL NATION

In a shock to onlookers and media alike, the New Hampshire House voted 188 to 186 to reject a revised gay-marriage bill. The bill, passed by the Senate earlier this week, had been revised at the urging of Gov. Jim Lynch, who threatened to veto the bill if it did not include legal protections for religious organizations that do not want officiate same-sex marriages. After rejecting the revised bill, lawmakers vowed to work with the NH State Senate on a compromise bill. New Hampshire would have become the sixth state in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage. It seems likely that gay marriage will become a reality in the Granite State at some point in the near future. Now, all eyes will turn to New York, which is currently considering legislation legalizing same-sex marriage, and California, where the Supreme Court is expected to announce its ruling on Prop. 8, the controversial ballot measure that took away the right of gays and lesbians to marry in the state.