Hooray New Hampshire!

I started this blog with a clear agenda to espouse the many health and karmic benefits of veganism. And while I'll continue to blog about all things veg -- from food and clothing to the environment and animal rights -- today we celebrate a giant leap forward for human rights.

With a signature from Governor John Lynch penned this afternoon, New Hampshire has become the sixth U.S. state to legalize same sex marriage. This is huge news for New Hampshire's gay and lesbian families who are now entitled to the many legal rights available only to married couples.

Marriage is a civil institution. Religion has nothing to do with it. If churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship wish not to recognize gay marriages, they are free to do so. But we must keep in mind that marriage is never weakened when more people have access to it. Quite the contrary; expanded access makes marriage that much more valued by people to whom it's been denied.