Local same-sex
numbers up

More couples identify themselves
as gay in the latest census data

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By Jean Christensen
Associated Press

Three years after Hawaii voters blocked the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state, new data provide the first glimpse at how many gay couples might have been poised to tie the knot.

Figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau show 2,389 Hawaii households were occupied by same-sex partners last year -- nearly three times the amount in 1990, when the ultimately unsuccessful legal effort to recognize gay marriage in Hawaii was just beginning.

The 1990 census counted 602 same-sex, live-in couples in the state, but the Census Bureau cautioned against comparing 2000 data with the previous count because the question was asked differently.

Joseph Melillo and Patrick Lagon of Pearl City marked themselves as "unmarried partners" on both the 1990 and 2000 forms, although they would have preferred to call themselves spouses.

In 1990 their application for a marriage license was denied along with those of two lesbian couples, prompting a lawsuit that set off a nine-year legal battle against the state and a wave of pre-emptive legislation nationally.

Though the battle ended with Melillo and Lagon holding a "reciprocal beneficiary" certificate instead of a marriage license, Melillo thinks its impact can be seen in the number of gay households willing to identify themselves to the census.

"Because of the exposure we had for 10 years, almost all of our friends became very public and felt more comfortable expressing their relationships in public," Melillo said.

"I think out of Hawaii you probably got a much more accurate listing than maybe some other states."

David Smith, spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign, a gay and lesbian political group, said the Hawaii total tracks fairly closely with percentages from other states and probably represents an undercount of about 50 percent to 60 percent. That is because of confusion over the question and continued fear among some gay couples about identifying themselves as such, he said.

But he said a national educational campaign urging gay couples to mark the "unmarried partners" question last year helped raise the total.

The 2,389 gay households represented about 10 percent of the total count of unmarried partners living together in Hawaii. Of the 2,389 households, male couples accounted for 1,234 households, and female couples accounted for 1,155.

About 64 percent of same-sex partners living together were from urban areas, while the remainder were from rural areas.

"We think that these numbers send a very strong message to lawmakers throughout the state that gay families are living in every corner, in every part of the state of Hawaii," Smith said.

But Kelly Rosati, executive director of the Hawaii Family Forum, said, "We don't think any information as a result of the new census numbers changes our position that the definition of marriage should remain one man, one woman.

"We stand with the 70 percent of the people in Hawaii who favored maintaining the traditional definition of marriage."

In 1993 the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled the state had to show a compelling interest to deny marriage licenses to Melillo and Lagon and the other couples.

A lower court judge later ruled that the state failed to demonstrate that compelling interest.

But in 1998, Hawaii voters, by a margin of 69 percent to 29 percent, approved a state constitutional amendment giving the Legislature the power to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, something it had done in 1994.