As we stand at the precipice of the 2024 General Election, we have clear choices on the Hawaiʻi ballot. Hopeful and inclusive visions on the one hand and a return to a darker, mean-spirited time on the other. I am confident in Hawaiʻi’s inclusive and forward-looking spirit. Particularly as it relates to moral battles like abortion access and same-sex marriage.
With the U.S. Supreme Court indicating it would like to overturn its prior ruling on same-sex marriage (as it previously did on abortion), now is the time to close the loop on a hateful period in our state’s history. It is time to repeal Article 1, Section 23 of the Hawaiʻi State Constitution. It’s time to secure marriage for same-sex couples by removing the legislature’s authority to define it otherwise.
A Hard Lesson Led to Action
In many ways, I began my political life in Hawaiʻi working on the issue of marriage equality.
The very first legislative hearing I ever attended in Hawaiʻi was all the way back in 2007. HB908 would have established Civil Unions for same-sex couples. I don’t recall whether I submitted testimony or not. What I do recall is that the overwhelming majority of the submitted testimony was in support.
Not only was I new to Hawaiʻi, having moved to the islands just a few years prior, but I was new to politics and completely unfamiliar with how the legislature works.
I left the hearing after an hour or two, returning home in the confidence that the bill would pass the House Committee on Judiciary. Boy was I naïve. I awoke the next morning to news stories that the bill had been deferred in committee. The bill died.
I remember being confused and outraged. How could that be given how much support the bill had received?
Later that year, community leaders and same-sex marriage supporters came together to begin conversations about the long-term work of passing same-sex marriage in Hawaiʻi.
In those early days, I sat in the back and listened to conversations about how to move forward and what an effort to pass same-sex marriage should look like. As the months went on, the meetings grew smaller until only a handful of folks remained. Myself included. Conversations continued and the Family Equality Coalition was born.
Not long after, we became Equality Hawaiʻi which would eventually grow to the largest LGBTQ/allied organization in the islands.
From my first hearing in 2007 to the passage of the Hawaiʻi Marriage Equality Act in 2013, the work of Equality Hawaiʻi was my primary political focus.
It’s Time For Article 1, Section 23 to Go
At the time, I honestly believed the work was done. But revisiting this issue has been nostalgic. I’ve reconnected with many allies with whom I stood shoulder-to-shoulder during the marriage battle a decade ago.
Even though I was aware of Article 1, Section 23 of the State Constitution, it never occurred to me the need would arise to repeal it. Unlike many states that passed their own constitutional amendments limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples, Hawaiʻi gave the authority to define marriage to the legislature. It was that authority upon which they acted in 2013.
On the ballot, voters will be asked: “Shall the state constitution be amended to repeal the legislature’s authority to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples?”
Because this is an amendment to our state constitution, the threshold for passage is higher than your normal simple majority. Blank votes on constitutional amendments count as NO votes.
I was honored and humbled to be among those who fought for marriage equality more than ten years ago. And I’ve been similarly humbled this year.
Hawaii was the first place in the world to recognize the right of same-sex couples to marry. Let’s honor that history and take back from the legislature the right to reserve marriage for opposite-sex couples. Let’s stand for love, for ohana. When you cast your ballot, vote YES on Constitutional Amendment Question #1.