CONCORD, N.H. (AP)

The New Hampshire House soundly defeated a proposed constitutional amendment Wednesday to allow marriage only between one man and one woman. Same-sex marriage opponents fought hard for the amendment but failed to get a majority. The House voted 233-124 to kill the amendment. Supporters argued that the people had a right to vote. Windham Republican Anthony DiFruscia said lawmakers wouldn’t be bigots to support putting the amendment on the ballot. But Nashua Democrat Bette Lasky said the constitution should never be amended to restrict rights. Plymouth Democrat Carole Estes recounted her years as a young, black woman treated as a second-class citizen in the South. In urging the amendment’s defeat, she said it was ironic she now was being asked to vote to discriminate against others.