The legislative skirmishing continues in Hawaii, with the
Senate Judiciary Committee having held day-long hearings on two
consecutive Saturdays, February 12 and 19.  The first hearings were
on two bills (one a constitutional amendment) which would define
marriage as between a man and a woman.  When it became apparent that
the Senate Judiciary Committee would support neither bill, the Chair
of the Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled hearings on a STATE-WIDE
domestic partnership bill for February 19.  The proposed DP bill is
the most favorable of any in the U.S. and at least as strong as Denmark's.
The fundies were out in force against the DP bill, but exhaustion is
setting in.  The February 19 hearing ended after only 7 hours of testimony,
as opposed to the usual marathon 12 hours!!!!  Insider political
opinion is divided on what happens next:  seasoned observers disagree
as to whether the Senate Judiciary Committee will approve nothing or
report out a DP bill.  The deadline for reporting out a DP bill would
be near March 1.  Unfortunately, due to intricacies of the legislative
calender, one of the negative bills can be reported out anytime until
sometime in May (one of the negative bills has already passed the House
and so survived the March 4 ``cross-over'' deadline).
      How can Senator Graulty, Chair of the Judiciary Committee,
who is absolutely opposed to same sex marriage, be proposing a DP bill?
He's being advised by some in the Attorney General's office that granting
some of the rights of marriage to same sex couples will WEAKEN our
court case by lessening the discrimination against same-sex couples.
Also, Graulty is learning that the fundies make no sense (their
outpouring of hatred on Saturday really damaged them).  In particular,
the Roman Catholic Church testified against DP's, having said the earlier
week that they were for full civil rights for gay men and lesbians but
that marriage was not a civil right.  In addition, Graulty is learning to
like the ideas of retired Judge King, a former federal judge in Hawaii and
a Republican, who has argued in an OP-ED piece that (1) the state needs to
get out of the marriage business, leaving the term marriage up to churches,
and (2) that all civil marriages (straight or gay) be labeled domestic
partnerships and emotionally ``neutralized''.  In Judge King's view,
marriage in the state's eyes is just a special kind of contract between
two people.  Graulty is not likely to follow Judge King's suggestion,
but he's making favorable public noises about it.  He's LEARNING, and
one can't expect much more from hearings.
      Tax-deductible contributions to Hawaii's Equal Rights Marriage
Project may be sent to GLCC/Marriage Project, 1820 University Ave., Room 8,
Honolulu, HI 96822.  To help pay the mounting political obligations
(some of our legislative friends have had daily picketing by the fundies
in their home communities), non-tax-deductible contributions can be
sent to Alliance For Equal Rights, 2139 Chamberlain St., Honolulu, HI
96822.