LGBTQ+ support push for same-sex marriage bill

Apr. 3—House Bill 2802, which calls for a state constitutional amendment to repeal the Legislature's authority to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, remains alive as advocates worry about a conservative-­leaning U.S. Supreme Court possibly overturning same-sex marriages across the country.

House Bill 2802, which calls for a state constitutional amendment to repeal the Legislature's authority to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, remains alive as advocates worry about a conservative-­leaning U.S. Supreme Court possibly overturning same-sex marriages across the country.

In addition, a sense of urgency surrounds the bill ahead of November's rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, who appointed three sitting Supreme Court justices.

HB 2802 crossed over to the Senate, moved out of the Senate Judiciary committee and has been referred to the Senate Ways and Means committee for a hearing on Thursday.

Article 1 Section 23 of the state Constitution was amended by voters in November 1998 to read that "The Legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples " after 69 % of voters approved of the change before same-sex marriages later became legal in Hawaii in 2013.

The change in attitudes against and then in support of same-sex marriages in Hawaii and across the country represents the largest shift in public opinion on any social issue, said Dan Foley, who retired from Hawaii's Intermediate Court of Appeals and advocated for same-sex marriage in Hawaii.

Foley presided over one of Hawaii's earliest same-sex marriages and continues to push to repeal the Legislature's ability to roll back same-sex marriage.

"It's time, " Foley told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Monday.

HB 2802 represents the Legislature's opportunity to put the issue to voters on the Nov. 5 ballot once again, or see the window of opportunity close for another two years when the political landscape could change, starting with November's local and national elections.

Foley has said that opposition to same-sex marriages in Hawaii and across the country was running around 70 % and then flipped to about 70 % support after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages in 2015 as more children came out to their parents and attitudes abruptly changed.

"I don't think there's ever been a social movement where there's been such a dramatic change in public opinion in such a short period of time, " he said.

The latest version of HB 2802 would call for a general election ballot question on Nov. 5 asking Hawaii voters, "Shall the state constitution be amended to repeal the Legislature's authority to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples ?"

Jeffrey Hong, chair of the Change 23 Coalition, said it's important to push HB 2802 during an election year because any constituional amendments must be voted on by the public and must be approved by more than half of all votes cast in order to pass.

Foley called the current power of the Legislature to repeal same-sex marriages in Hawaii "a real blight on our Bill of Rights. It's time to remove it."

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Hawaii for 10 years after former Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed Senate Bill 1 into law on Nov. 13, 2013, which became known as the Hawaii Marriage Equality Act.

House Speaker Scott Saiki previously told the Star-­Advertiser that he introduced HB 2802 this session because he worries the U.S. Supreme Court could undermine same-sex marriages following its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that gives states the ability to limit abortion rights, which continues to play out in some parts of the country.

U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, in written testimony supporting HB 2802, said she was "on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court when news broke that the Court intended to reverse precedent that had stood for nearly half a century and eliminate a woman's constitutional right to reproductive freedoms."

On same-sex marriage, Tokuda said she refuses to watch the U.S. Supreme Court take a "hatchet to rights won that had previously been denied."

She strongly supports the bill as someone who "fought to establish and protect marriage equality in Hawaii for more than a quarter of a century."

Tokuda described the passage of the Hawaii Marriage Equality Act as one of the defining moments of her tenure in the state Senate.

Hong wrote in supportive testimony that he rushed a wedding with his partner of 10 years, Jason Alcock, on the first day of the Act's commencement on Dec. 2, 2013.

"It is a measure of success that after 10 plus years of marriages, Gen Z is unaware marriage equality issues exist, " Hong wrote.

Hong told the Star-Advertiser that the state Constitution's framework that allows for discrimination against same-sex marriage is a time bomb, and legislators need to prevent discrimination against minorities such as the LGBTQ + community by putting the issue before voters in November.

"The genesis of this is that when the Dobbs decision came down, it was apparent that the civil rights we may have taken for granted over 50 years on the right to choose are now in jeopardy, " he said.

Hong said legislators need to leave it up to voters to remove the "poisonous language " in the Constitution in November.

If legislators kill HB 2802 this session, Hong said, "we will come back next year, and we will keep on coming back."