Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 13:52:34 -1000 From: lambda@aloha.net (Martin Rice) Subject: SA 144: IMPORTANT MESSAGES FROM MARRIAGE PROJECT-HAWAII Aloha awakea kakou. From our friends at the Marriage Project-Hawai`i, 2 messsages: During July and August, Tom Ramsey, our regular e-mail author is away. Many of our supporters have asked us how they can help us at the grass roots level in their own community. Below you will find the latest flyer we have been handing out here in Honolulu since June 97. We would greatly appreciate it if you could: 1. Download the material and send it to all your friends and family in cyberspace. 2. Then print out a hard copy and distribute them to all your friends, family and community organizations who are not on the Internet. 3. If you are involved in your local L&G publications, ask them to reproduce the information. 4. We have new media packets for anyone who needs a more comprehensive summary for their local media & organizations; call 808-942-3737. The next 16 months will be a defining moment for the L&G community. We desperately need your support. Sue Reardon, Chair, Marriage Project-Hawaii During the summer our regular E-mail messenger, Tom Ramsey, is on vacation. I asked Dan Foley to give our cyberspace supporters, who are crucial to our success, an update. At the end are listed our donation 501C-3 mailing address and 1-900 donation line. Please share this information with all your friends and encourage their financial support. Sue Reardon Chair Marriage Project-Hawaii =================================================================== The same-gender marriage case now awaits a decision from the Supreme Court of Hawaii. The case has been fully briefed, and a decision from the court could come this year or next. There seems to be little doubt that when the court decides the case, the court will decide in favor of same-gender marriage. While we await a decision from the court, the political work to preserve and protect a favorable court decision needs to be done. On the November 1998 ballot, the Hawaii voters will be asked whether the Hawaii Constitution should be amended to reserve the power to the legislature to limit marriage to opposite-gender couples. The religious right, including the Catholic and Mormon churches, are already actively working toward securing a yes vote in support of this constitutional amendment. Another vote may also be posed to the voters of Hawaii during the last week of November or first week of Decmeber of this year. Because of a recent federal court ruling, the voters of Hawaii may be asked once again whether or not there should be a constitutional convention. The constitutional convention is being pushed by the religious right; however, it is opposed by unions, Native Hawaiian organizations, and civil rights groups. Whether or not there will be a constitutional convetion will be dependent on which side is best organized and can get out the vote. Much work needs to be done between now and November. Hawaii has done much to advance the cause for equal protection of the laws for gay and lesbian citizens. Six years ago when the Hawaii same-gender marriage case began, the national gay and lesbian community did not see same-gender marriage on the horizon. Now it is within our grasp. We have done all the work necessary to secure a legal victory before the Supreme Court of Hawaii. What remains is to secure a political victory by having the voters of Hawaii reject bigotry and intolerance at the polls this year and again next year. A victory in Hawaii will mean a victory for the country. A victory in Hawaii will be victory for the constitution and for the Bill of Rights. A victory in Hawaii will be the beginning of the end of discrimination against gay and lesbian citizens in this country. Dan Foley Make Checks Payable to: Marriage Project - Hawaii P.O. Box 11690, Honolulu, HI 96828 (A 501-C3 Tax Deductble Charitable Organization, responsible for the Hawaii marriage case, and paying the bills) Donation Phone Line: 1-900-97-MARRY email: ramsey@math.hawaii.edu Web Site: http:/www.xq.com/mph/ Phone: (808) 942-3737 Fax: (808) 262-9509 Also: Checks for: Friends of Marriage Marriage Project-Hawaii (our 501-C4 NON-tax deductible organization) Same address and phone. Working to change public policy to allow for same-gender marriage, and preventing the constitutional amendment from passing.