Concord, N.H. ? Gov. John Lynch signed a law Thursday establishing civil unions for same-sex couples in New Hampshire, allowing them to apply for the same rights as married people as early as January.

New Hampshire has “a long and proud tradition taking the lead in opposing discrimination,” Lynch said. “Today that tradition continues.”

It will be the fourth state to offer civil unions and the first to do so without a court order or threat of one.

Couples who enter civil unions will have the same rights as married couples. Same-sex unions from other states also will be recognized if they were legal in the state where they were performed.

Lynch, a Democrat, called the measure a matter of conscience. “How could any one of us look into the eyes of our neighbors, our friends or our loved ones if we continued to deny them these basic legal protections?” he said.

The bill passed both chambers of the Democrat-controlled Legislature last month, largely along party lines.

Among those attending the bill-signing ceremony was New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson, whose consecration in 2003 as the church’s first openly gay bishop divided the worldwide Anglican Communion to which it belongs. Robinson and his longtime partner plan to take advantage of civil unions.

“This is not a radical departure,” Robinson said of the bill. “This is a real confirmation of what New Hampshire has always been about: the freedom of its own citizens and fairness for everyone.”