I’m on a list that delivers me steady e-mail from gay and lesbian couples on the mainland who want to thank Hawaii for leading the nation toward legalized same-sex marriage. They assure me we’ll be rewarded. Once they can get licenses, they promise, they’ll be filling DC-10s to get married here and spend lots of money on fabulous honeymoons. Same-sex marriage
is up to legislatorsThat’s comforting, but I still don’t understand something: Who exactly was it who decided that Hawaii wants to lead the nation toward legalized same-sex marriage? It wasn’t the people of Hawaii. Public opinion polls show overwhelming opposition among voters. It wasn’t our elected representatives. The 1996 Legislature was consumed by the issue all session but ended up doing nothing.
The impetus came from the state Supreme Court, which ruled that our state Constitution requires the state to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples unless there is compelling reason not to. Circuit Judge Kevin Chang found no such compelling reason.
The biggest fallacy of this debate is that gay marriage is a civil rights issue that must be decided by the courts. Nonsense. If it’s such a pressing civil rights matter, why isn’t it a serious issue in any other state? It’s a simple public policy matter that needs to be decided by
Hawaii voters and their elected representatives. If we want to allow gay marriage, that’s our right. But we don’t have to let it happen if we don’t want to.
The ultimate source of civil rights is the U.S. Constitution. There is no ruling by any federal judge anywhere suggesting that the U.S. Constitution guarantees Americans the civil right to marry partners of the same sex.
The state Constitution has different language on equal protection, but legalized same-sex marriage wasn’t intended or even imagined by the delegates who wrote the Constitution or the voters who ratified it. We are free to amend the Constitution to correct the unintended result.
Voters narrowly approved a constitutional convention in the last election, but special interests are challenging the vote in court.
It’s time for legislators to settle this issue that has divided us for so long. They need to do it quickly, early in the session, so they can move on to neglected business like the economy, education, auto insurance and political reform.
It needn’t take much time. We’ve all had time to decide where we stand. It boils down to this: If legislators think it’s a good idea to allow same-sex marriage, they should exert leadership and amend the marriage laws to do so. To hide behind the robes of the justices is nothing short of gutless.
If legislators don’t think it’s a good idea to allow same-sex marriage, they should pass a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between partners of the opposite sex. They should schedule a special election this fall to let voters decide it after listening to both sides.
Many legislators are in office today only because potential opponents didn’t see how vulnerable they were last year and didn’t run. That won’t happen again. If those we call lawmakers abdicate their responsibility to make law to the courts, expect carnage in 1998.
The 1976 Big Island Council ignored public opposition and gave in to union demands to fluoridate the water supply. Angry voters put the issue on the ballot and overwhelmingly defeated fluoridation. While they were at it, they voted out two-thirds of the Council.
This issue has the same potential to inflame voters who won’t buy that legislators had no choice but to accept the will of the courts. Legislators have a choice. The only question is whether they have the courage to make it.
