Hawaii lawmakers consider civil unions

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

The Hawaii Legislature will hear a bill Thursday that would permit gay civil unions.

The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear House Bill 444 Thursday afternoon at the state Capitol.

Civil-union bills have lacked support at the Legislature in recent years, but HB 444 is backed by a majority of the Democrat-controlled House.

HB 444’s support in the Democrat-controlled Senate is unclear, while Republican Gov. Linda Lingle has not yet stated her position on the measure.


Read more: http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2009/02/02/daily12.html

[KamaAina]

1. Maika'i no! (Very fine, indeed!)

A court decision several years ago gave us the chance to exercise some national leadership on marriage equality, but we blew it with a Prop H8-style referendum, complete with megabucks backing from the Catholic and Mormon churches. This would be a nice consolation prize.

Also, it'd be fun to watch Gov. Lingle (R-Plays A Moderate On TV) squirm over whether to sign it, particularly in light of the (unsubstantiated) rumors that have long dogged her about her own sexual preference.

[Cha]

2. Rec'd~That's

very interestingB-)

[TygrBright]

3. I always suspected Hawai'i had it all over most of the mainland for smarts...

Way to deal with the economic downturn, guys!

Can you IMAGINE the rush of tourist revenue if this passes? Gay couples will be making reservations the instant it's signed.

For a place that relies as heavily on tourist revenue as Hawai'i, this is nothing short of BRILLIANT!

I wish we could get the New Mexico lege to figure this one out, but they're still stuck in the Jurassic.

regretfully,
Bright

[IndianaGreen]

4. The same coalition that backed Prop 8 is also opposed to civil unions

Civil unions are called gay marriage light. You might as well fight for full equality, instead of doing the 21st century equivalent of having separate drinking fountains for whites and negroes. In Brown v. Board of Education SCOTUS decided that 'separate but equal' was inherently unequal.

[CatholicEdHead]

5. I hope it passes

Good for Hawaii! Go Rainbow Warriors!

[McCamy Taylor]

6. OMG! Their tourism industry would shoot through the roof! Florida and California would have to do it

too in order to stay competitive.