Plainfield -- “If marriage is the cornerstone of society, then I want a piece of that cornerstone,” Michael Blumenauer pleaded to the crowd of about 250 at Plainfield's Town Meeting yesterday.

Beside him stood his partner, Marty Favor. They are to be married next Jan. 15.

“I got one ‘yes' -- now I have to get hundreds more?” Blumenauer said, before walking off in tears.

It was one of several impassioned testimonies is support of same-sex marriage at yesterday's Town Meeting, which also happened to include the passing of the town's $1.9 million budget and a vote merging the two library trustee boards.

But article 13 stole the show.

The issue of same-sex marriage has come up at Town Meeting in more than 100 New Hampshire towns because of a warrant article that seeks to allow voters to define marriage.

The controversial article has been pushed by a coalition called Let New Hampshire Vote, founded by state Rep. David Bates, a conservative Republican from Windham County.

Though the group's rhetoric hinges on voter rights, it is widely regarded as being opposed to the 2009 law, passed by legislators, which allows same-sex couples to marry.

Yesterday, the debate continued in the Plainfield Elementary School gymnasium, though it proved to be lopsided. Not only did voters not approve the article, but, by a vote of 185-40, they amended it to instruct the Selectboard to write a letter to the governor and state legislators “commending them for passing and signing into law legislation affirming marriage equality for all New Hampshire residents.”

“We see this not as an issue of voting rights, but rather as an issue of civil rights,” said Richard Atkinson, speaking on behalf of a coalition of Plainfield residents opposed to the article.

“Rather than possibly sending a vague and misunderstood message to our elected representatives, we wish to send a message that states that we as a town affirm and celebrate marriage equality.”

According to the Let New Hampshire Vote Web site, as of Friday, 53 towns had approved the article, 23 rejected it and 20 tabled it. In the Upper Valley, it recently passed in Charlestown and Haverhill, but was voted down in New London.

“This is not a place to debate homosexuality or gay marriage. This is about voters rights,” said Marnie Cash-Rondeau, who organized the petition drive to put the article on Plainfield's ballot. But it was clear that many people disagreed with Cash-Rondeau's assessment, indicated in part by the throng of people wearing yellow buttons that said “Honoring All NH Families.”

State Sen. Matt Houde, the Plainfield Democrat who was a vocal proponent of the gay marriage legislation, said he wanted “to be on the right side of history.”

“I was pleased to get to cast the vote and I would do it again,” Houde said, referring to his role in passing the law through the Senate.

Gretchen Cherington, speaking as “mother of a straight son and a gay daughter,” said she supported Atkinson's amendment.

“Gay and lesbian people suffer not because of who they are but because of who we are,” Cherington said.

After the amendment supporting the same-sex marriage law passed, the Rev. John Gregory-Davis of the Meriden Congregational Church assessed the significance of Plainfield's vote.

“In a way, they got what they wanted,” Gregory-Davis said, referring to Cash-Rondeau and backers of the article. “The people of this town voted and we affirmed the right to marry is a civil right.”

Besides article 13, the most contentious articles involved the town's two libraries -- Philip Read Memorial Library and the Meriden Library.

After much discussion, voters approved an article merging the two library boards of trustees into a single board, starting in 2011. Currently, each library has a board with three trustees. But the Selectboard felt it was time to force the two libraries to work together to better manage limited resources.

“One of the ideas that has always frustrated me is pitting Meriden and Plainfield against each other,” said Selectman Robert Taylor. “We are all from the this town and need to work more together.”

Dennis Girouard, one of the Philip Read library trustees, urged people to vote against the merger, saying it was premature and that more study was needed.

“We simply don't have enough information yet,” Girouard said.

The article passed by a 164-75 vote.

Another article on the ballot, recommended by the Philip Read library trustees but not the Selectboard, was to approve $16,800 to upgrade the part-time librarian position to full time. The increase would have meant nine more hours of library operation a week.

But opponents said it was more prudent to wait until the newly merged board could assess the needs of both libraries.

The article was defeated, 154-89.

The town's $1.9 million operating budget passed by a vote of 207-11. It represents a 2.1 percent increase over the current spending plan and includes a 2 percent raise for municipal workers, who went without a salary boost this past year.

Despite the increase, the Selectboard was able to use surplus raised from taxes last year to keep the town tax rate the same for next year, said Town Administrator Steve Halleran. As such, the town tax rate remains $4.24 per $1,000 of valuation. On a $250,000 home, the town tax rate amounts to a $1,060 levy.

Without the surplus, the town would have had to raise the tax rate by 25 cents to offset the spending increase for the budget and the other approved articles, Halleran said.

Other articles approved included adding $137,500 to existing town capital reserve and general trust funds, and taking $131,000 from the Highway Vehicle Capital Reserve Fund to buy a new dump truck for the highway department, replacing a 16-year-old vehicle.