From mial@hawaii.edu Wed Dec 4 12:11:48 1996 Received: from relay1.Hawaii.Edu (relay1.Hawaii.Edu [128.171.3.53]) by qrd.rdrop.com (8.6.9/8.6.9) with SMTP id MAA12024 for ; Wed, 4 Dec 1996 12:11:36 -0800 Received: from uhunix3.its.hawaii.edu ([128.171.44.52]) by relay1.Hawaii.Edu with SMTP id <588277(3)>; Wed, 4 Dec 1996 09:06:40 -1000 Received: from localhost by uhunix3.its.Hawaii.Edu with SMTP id <188163(7)>; Wed, 4 Dec 1996 08:55:53 -1000 Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 08:55:48 -1000 From: Mia H H Lam X-Sender: mial@uhunix3 To: marriage Subject: Hawaii Court Rules in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage (fwd.) Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 05:26:26 -1000 From: tlau@thomtech.com Forwarding today's Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund news release. David. ------- Forwarded Message LAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, December 3, 1996 Contact: Peg Byron 212-995-9475, 800-314-5149 pager Evan Wolfson 212-995-8986 Dan Foley 808-526-9500 Hawaii Court: Lesbian & Gay Couples Should Be Allowed To Marry Lambda Wins Historic Ruling Against Discrimination in Civil Marriage Law (HONOLULU & NEW YORK, December 3, 1996) For the first time in U.S. history a state court ruled Tuesday that civil marriage law cannot discriminate against lesbian and gay couples. A Hawaii court ruled in the case brought by Honolulu civil rights lawyer Dan Foley and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund on behalf of three lesbian and gay couples. "This is a historic moment for lesbians and gay men," said Lambda Marriage Project Director Evan Wolfson, who with Foley is co-counsel in the case, Baehr v. Miike, tried in Honolulu this fall. "When required at our trial to justify its discriminatory marriage law, the government couldn't do it. The court today agreed that there is no compelling or logical reason for discriminating against lesbian and gay couples," Wolfson said. Speaking from Lambda's New York headquarters, Wolfson said, "This case made a major breakthrough toward ending second-class status for gay families. This decision marks the beginning of the end to sex discrimination in marriage." Lambda is spearheading a national movement to end sex discrimination in civil marriage, and to protect lesbian and gay families. >From Honolulu, Foley, who litigated Baehr v. Miike from its earliest stages, said, "Judge Kevin Chang made the only decision that he could, given the evidence in this case. This decision is not only historic, but of vital personal consequence to the couples who want to get married." Foley added, "Now that the court has ruled, the state should immediately issue civil marriage licenses to the couples in this case." Foley, through the Hawaii Equal Rights Marriage Project, and Wolfson presented the case for two lesbian couples and one gay male couple seeking civil marriage licenses in Hawaii. The three couples, Ninia Baehr and Genora Dancel, Pat Lagon and Joseph Melillo, and Antoinette Pregil and Tammy Rodrigues were denied marriage licenses by the state Department of Health in late 1990. In 1991, they jointly filed a lawsuit alleging the denial was unconstitutional and eventually the case was appealed to the Hawaii Supreme Court. In 1993, the state Supreme Court ruled that, under Hawaii's Constitution, allowing civil marriage licenses only for opposite-sex couples and not for same-sex couples is sex discrimination. The court ordered the state to show what "compelling" interest justifies such discrimination in civil marriage. Judge Chang of the First Circuit Court of Hawaii heard the case at a nine-day, bench trial, September 10-20. Deputy state Attorney General Rich Eichor argued on behalf of Director Lawrence Miike of the state Department of Health, which has jurisdiction over marriage licenses. Lambda Executive Director Kevin Cathcart said, "This victory is important progress for the civil rights of lesbians and men in Hawaii and throughout the country. Just as the legal protections and recognition that come with civil marriage should be available to everyone regardless of race, religion, and ethnicity, they should be available to everyone regardless of sex or sexual orientation." Cathcart added, "Just a generation ago, for example, courts ended state discrimination against marriages between people of different races. Today's ruling takes a similar step toward ending state discrimination against the marriages of lesbian and gay couples." Two of the plaintiffs in the landmark case, Ninia Baehr and Genora Dancel, who now live in Baltimore, quickly stated their exuberance with the ruling. "Many people around the country helped break through this wall of discrimination. While we face much more work ahead to secure this right nationally, Ninia and I are deeply honored to be part of today's victory," Dancel said. "Our love made it possible for me and Genora to get through this long legal fight," Baehr said. "I'm looking forward to our love getting us to our wedding on a mountain slope in Maui," she said. Lambda Legal Director Beatrice Dohrn said. "Without civil marriage, gay couples often face painful, difficult situations, like being barred from the hospital bedside of a partner in a medical emergency. Lesbian and gay couples have had no access to the legal, economic, and practical protections of civil marriage that non-gay couples can take for granted." Other protections withheld from gay couples include access to family health coverage, immigration, divorce, and inheritance rights. Lesbians and gay men also are denied protection for their children and may lose custody when their partner dies. Dohrn said, "Our society is structured so that hundreds of legal obligations and protections are available only through civil marriage. It's time the law stopped saying no' to those who want and need to say I do.' The choice of whether or not two people get married belongs to the couple, not the state." The prospect of ending marriage discrimination against same-sex couples has fueled recent backlash campaigns by the religious right to promote state and federal anti-marriage legislation like the federal Defense of Marriage Act, Wolfson said. He noted that DOMA does not ban marriages for gay couples but would discriminate against legally married gay couples by allowing federal protections and benefits only for heterosexual married couples. Wolfson said, "The absurdly named Defense of Marriage' Act, like the 16 state bills passed against equal marriage rights for lesbians and gay men, is unconstitutional and will be defeated. State by state, court by court, we will put an end to this illogical and cruel discrimination." Lambda is the oldest and largest legal organization dedicated to the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, and people with AIDS and HIV. -30- ------- End of Forwarded Message