Honolulu residents joined protesters in about 300 cities across the nation and in other countries following California's recent vote to ban same-sex marriages.

    Hundreds Gather For Same Sex Marriage  

 

 

California did not pass Proposition 8 and many locals that are for same sex marriage gathered at Honolulu City Hall.

 

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About 400 people held signs in front of Honolulu Hale and then marched to the state Capitol yesterday morning.

“;What happened with California was that it just finally put the gay community over the edge and we said, 'That's it, we are done,'”; said Dave Moore, director of the Aloha Pride Center. “;I believe Nov. 15th will go down in history as the next monumental date in civil rights.”;

Demonstrators chanting “;Gay, straight, black, white, we all want our civil rights”; held signs with slogans like “;Separate is not equal,”; “;God makes gays with straight help”; and “;My Mormon parents love their gay son.”;

Hawaii has neither same-sex marriages nor civil unions. In 1998, 69 percent of Hawaii voters voted to amend the state constitution, giving the Legislature the power to reserve marriage for opposite-sex couples.

“;Our legislators have said they actively support us, but we haven't seen the votes to demonstrate that,”; Moore said.

Connecticut, which began same-sex weddings last week, and Massachusetts are the only two states that allow gay marriage. A few states allow civil unions or domestic partnerships that grant some of the rights of marriage.

Protests following the vote on Proposition 8 in California, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman, have sometimes been angry and even violent, and demonstrators have targeted faiths that supported the ban, including the Mormon Church.

However, representatives of Join the Impact, which organized yesterday's demonstrations, asked supporters to be respectful and refrain from attacking other groups during the rallies.

Seattle blogger Amy Balliett, who started the planning for the protests when she set up a Web page three days after the California vote, said persuasion is impossible without civility.

“;If we can move anybody past anger and have a respectful conversation, then you can plant the seed of change,”; she said.

Balliett said supporters in 300 cities in the United States and other countries were holding marches, and she estimated 1 million people would participate, based on responses at the Web sites her group set up. Yesterday's protests were widely reported to be peaceful.

The Honolulu protest was started by local computer consultant Tom Larabee, who saw Balliett's Web page.

“;I have friends in California who are married, and who are in legal limbo right now,”; Larabee said. “;It hurt. We're going to see what we can do in the state.”;

Moore said same-sex marriage in Hawaii is still an uphill battle because of opposition from religious groups.

Moore said gay-rights activists need to “;try to convince them that we're not looking to try to establish a religious marriage, we're just trying to establish a civil marriage to have equal rights,”;

Among yesterday's supporters was Kim Coco Iwamoto, a transgender civil rights attorney and at-large member of the state Board of Education.

Iwamoto said the ban reminds her of when her mother was in Japanese internment camps in Hawaii.

“;The country has acknowledged that as a mistake, to just go with populous fear to oppress a specific group,”; Iwamoto said. “;I think we're going to look back at this kind of oppression as a mistake.”;