Gail Morrison, presiding over a gay couple's commitment ceremony a few years back, looked ahead and made a suggestion.

When times change, the justice of the peace told the couple, when our state finally recognizes the rights and voices and dreams of gay people in love, give me a call and I'll tie the knot for you. I'll make it official, in the eyes of the law.

Nice idea. Great foresight. Bad timing.

Morrison, it turns out, won't be able to perform that civil union, legal as of midnight Tuesday, the dawn of 2008. She'll be taking her own vows at that moment, on a holiday that will represent more than a turn of the calendar in the Granite State.

"I remember telling a reporter when the legislation was passed in April. I was saying aloud that I will get a civil union the very moment it's possible," said Morrison, 64. "I had that in mind."

So do about 20 other couples, all of whom have secured their civil union licenses and pre-registered with Morrison. She's a four-term state representative from Sanbornton, a resonating voice for women's equality and one of the brains behind tomorrow night's historic gathering.

When the midnight bells finish ringing, the Rev. Mary Wellemeyer of Manchester will conduct the group portion, unifying each couple, who will then exchange their vows and promises for the future during a personalized segment.

Morrison and her partner of 26 years, Pauline Chabot, will seal their deal.

It's not gay marriage, true. But baby steps, many in the gay community figure, are needed before a larger leap can occur.

"It gives as much, with respect to rights for gays is concerned, as is possible," Morrison said. "It is a recognition of where we are. I know from the bottom of my heart that separate and equal is not equal, and that is clear. . . . But we have as good a civil union (law) as exists in the country."

A social worker, Morrison received her law degree from Franklin Pierce Law Center in 1985. She's been a beacon for civil rights since the 1960s. She's organized bus trips to Washington, D.C., in support of the Equal Rights Amendment. She's championed abortion rights. She organized a movement in Nashua that fights domestic violence. She's attended teach-ins in Boston.

"I was finishing up the first of two terms in the Legislature, and I was thinking about law school because I was interested in what makes the world tick," Morrison said. "You don't learn that in high school. The question had been developing all of these years, and I had an interest in civil-rights issues that went back to childhood. I really wanted to know how these things could come about, what needed to happen to gain rights for this group, that group, the other group."

And, eventually, the gay and lesbian group.

The identification of sexual orientation varies from person to person, but there is a common denominator, one of the social barriers yet to be razed.

Morrison said, "There aren't a lot of positive images. There's nothing to assist a person in the process of coming out."

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