REPORT TITLE: Marriage, Woman and Man Only DESCRIPTION: Reaffirms legislative intent that marriage licenses are to be issued only to couples of different genders. Establishes the State's primary purpose in issuing marriages as the intent to protect the health and welfare of succeeding generations. 2312 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B. NO. SEVENTEENTH LEGISLATURE, 1994 STATE OF HAWAII A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MARRIAGE. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII: 1 SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to clarify that the 2 marriage licensing statutes relate solely to male-female couples, 3 and that the primary purpose of issuing marriage licenses is to 4 regulate and encourage the civil marriage of those couples who 5 appear, by virtue of their sex, to present the biological 6 possibility of producing offspring from their union. The 7 propagation, health, and well-being of future generations is a 8 vital state concern. This concern forms the underlying basis for 9 state regulation of marriage, and for confining the issuance of a 10 marriage license to male-female couples. 11 The State has drawn the statute as narrowly as possible to 12 exclude only those couples who, by their genetic composition, 13 cannot possibly produce a child from their union. Those couples 14 whose genetic makeup suggest the possibility of offspring, 15 especially in light of advancing medical technology, are properly 16 included within the ambit of the statute. 17 It is for this reason, as well as the fact that the State 18 respects the privacy of its citizens, that the State does not, 19 and should not, inquire as to whether male-female couples Page 2 2312 H.B. NO. 1 applying for a marriage license presently intend to have 2 children, or test opposite sex couples to determine whether they 3 may be presently fertile. 4 Rather, because only male-female couples may produce 5 children from their union, the State encourages all such male- 6 female couples to enter into a civil marriage when the man and 7 woman have decided to unite. By creating the status of a 8 marriage licensed by the State, the State has the opportunity to 9 discourage unions between close relatives; to impose, and have a 10 logical basis for, the imposition of parental responsibility upon 11 the partners to the union; to support and encourage the 12 legally-married status as the most desirable status in which to 13 bear and rear children; and to place restrictions upon the 14 dissolution of the union. 15 The legislature finds that it is neither necessary nor 16 appropriate for the State to regulate or interfere with the 17 intimate relationships that adults of the same sex may form by 18 issuing marriage licenses to these couples, as the marriage 19 licensing laws were primarily designed to address the important 20 health and social concerns that arise only when a man and a woman 21 enter into an intimate relationship. 22 The legislature finds that the legal relationship between Page 3 2312 H.B. NO. 1 same-sex couples should not be structured by the State, but 2 should instead derive from that couples' free choice as adults. 3 Same sex couples may make use of legal devices provided to all, 4 such as contract, will, trust, and power of attorney. Their 5 union can be solemnized, identified, and regulated, if the couple 6 so chooses, by their religious practices or personal beliefs 7 without the necessity of state involvement. 8 For these reasons, whenever a statute or law refers to 9 "marriage", the reference has been, and should continue to be, to 10 a marriage licensed by the State, or recognized under section 11 572-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes. 12 This Act, therefore, does not in any way seek to change the 13 application of the marriage licensing statutes. Rather, it is 14 simply a clarification and reaffirmation of legislative intent. 15 SECTION 2. Chapter 572, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended 16 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to 17 read as follows: 18 "'572- Definition of marriage. Whenever used in the 19 statutes or laws of Hawaii, "marriage" means the union licensed 20 under section 572-1." 21 SECTION 3. Section 572-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is 22 amended to read as follows: Page 4 2312 H.B. NO. 1 "'572-1 Requisites of valid marriage contract. In order to 2 make valid the marriage contract[,] between a man and a woman, it 3 shall be necessary that: 4 (1) The respective parties do not stand in relation to each 5 other of ancestor and descendant of any degree 6 whatsoever, brother and sister of the half as well as 7 to the whole blood, uncle and niece, aunt and nephew, 8 whether the relationship is legitimate or illegitimate; 9 (2) Each of the parties at the time of contracting the 10 marriage is at least sixteen years of age; provided 11 that with the written approval of the family court of 12 the circuit within which the minor resides, it shall be 13 lawful for a person under the age of sixteen years, but 14 in no event under the age of fifteen years, to marry, 15 subject to section 572-2; 16 (3) The man does not at the time have any lawful wife 17 living and that the woman does not at the time have any 18 lawful husband living; 19 (4) Consent of neither party to the marriage has been 20 obtained by force, duress, or fraud; 21 (5) Neither of the parties is a person afflicted with any 22 loathsome disease concealed from, and unknown to, the Page 5 2312 H.B. NO. 1 other party; 2 (6) It shall in no case be lawful for [any person] a man 3 and woman to marry in the State without a license for 4 that purpose duly obtained from the agent appointed to 5 grant marriage licenses; and 6 (7) The marriage ceremony be performed in the State by a 7 person or society with a valid license to solemnize 8 marriages and the man and the woman to be married and 9 the person performing the marriage ceremony be all 10 physically present at the same place and time for the 11 marriage ceremony." 12 SECTION 4. Section 572-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is 13 amended to read as follows: 14 "'572-3 Contracted without the State. Marriages between a 15 man and a woman legal in the country where contracted shall be 16 held legal in the courts of the State." 17 SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed. 18 New statutory material is underscored. 19 SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval. 20 21 INTRODUCED BY: _______________________