From atropos@aol.net Mon Apr 11 21:43:04 1994 Subject: HAWAII MARRIAGE PROJECT HAWAII MARRIAGE PROJECT, APRIL 10 The stalemate in the Hawaii Senate collapsed last week, when two of our "fearless-five defenders" on the Senate Judiciaryy Committee switched sides and voted for the latest Senate draft of HB2312. This latest draft defines marriage to be between a man and a woman and it is so bad that the courts will have little trouble striking it down. Unfortunately, it's a harbinger of things to come. This week two more Senators announced that they would support a constitutional amendment to Hawaii's constitution to ban same-sex marriages---there is no danger of that this year but the constitutional amendment will be THE topic of the 1995 legislature. I'm not sure who's providing the resources, but Senators are being shown computerized church rolls of Baptist churches listing church members in their districts. The liberal-left is clearly being out-organized. The entire Senate will vote on the Senate version of HB2312 Tuesday morning; we fear a route: 20 to 5 against us and for the bill. Because the bill is different from the original House bill (which had passed the House 34 to 17), there will be a conference committee between the House and the Senate on the bill. Due to Senate rules, the two defectors from our side gained something: since they voted FOR HB2312, they are eligible to be on the conference committee (but are not guaranteed a place). The two defectors have received public assurances from the Senate Judiciary Chair that no "significant" changes will be made to the bill in conference committee. Already, this promise has been assailed by the House leadership. This promise has some importance: the bill in its present form is so bad (one could suspect, deliberately so) that it provides ammunition for us. What to do next? If you're out-of-state, DO NOT contact legislators. It really pisses them off. If you're in-state, do your best to win a few more votes to our side by contacting your own Senators. If you're out-of-state, we need serious help in reaching liberal churches at a grassroots level and the unchurched as well. Any help in that regard is more than welcome. Tom Ramsey ramsey@math.hawaii.edu