CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – The state’s commission on same-sex unions has dealt several setbacks to proponents of same-sex marriage.

In a series of votes, the panel said it would urge state lawmakers not to allow same-sex couples to marry, not to recognize out-of-state same-sex unions and not to set up a domestic partner registry for couples who cannot legally marry.

“My hope is before I die I will be able to approach a justice of the peace in the state of New Hampshire and be legally married,” said Ed Butler, an openly gay commission member, who had submitted the recommendation for marriage. Soon afterward the panel defeated his recommendation by a 10-2 vote.

Earlier this month the panel voted to recommend a constitutional amendment stating marriage is between one woman and one man, though the measure is not expected to gain traction in the Legislature. A recent move to rescind that measure failed.

The commissioners also defeated a measure stating no religious denomination “will be required to perform any marriage which is not consonant with its doctrine.”

They opted for a broader amendment stating “religious freedom being an essential right in New Hampshire, no person should be required to perform any marriage which would otherwise offend his or her conscience.”

The panel, which is expected to issue its report to the Legislature on Dec. 1, has not yet taken up Vermont-style civil unions.

The commission has been meeting regularly since April, gathering testimony from the public as well as doctors, sociologists and psychologists, but their meetings often have been marked by conflicts over appointments and how to proceed.

Their recent meeting was no different, as an argument between its chair and another member broke into a shouting match.

Early in the meeting, Rep. Steve Vaillancourt, R-Manchester, distributed a letter to commission members in which he accuses Rep. Tony Soltani, R-Epsom, the panel’s chair, of using homophobic slurs against an openly gay member of the commission.

Arriving later, Soltani interrupted the meeting to demand Vaillancourt prove the allegations.

“I would like you to explain when and where I referred to Commissioner [Raymond] Buckley as queer or faggot,” Soltani said.

Shouting and table-pounding ensued as Soltani and Vaillancourt argued.

Soltani and Vaillancourt, both Republicans, sit next to each other in Representatives’ Hall. Vaillancourt sent the letter to House Speaker Douglas Scamman. But Scamman isn’t responding to the letter, so Vaillancourt took it to his fellow commission members.

Soltani says he did not use the slurs against Buckley, a Democrat and former House member.

“I am not going to apologize for something I didn’t do,” Soltani said.

Buckley and Vaillancourt insist he did.

“You indeed did refer to me as that every time I got onto the floor of the House,” Buckley said.