Hawaii be 15th U.S. state to legalize gay marriage | Rters

Contents:

• HAWAII BE 15TH U.S. STATE TO LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE
• CIVIL UNNS AND GAY MARRIAG HAWAII
• GAY MARRIAGE
• GAY MARRIAGE HAWAII
• LEGAL GAY MARRIAGE
• CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW ON THE BOOKS. VOTERS ULD REMOVE NEXT YEAR

HAWAII BE 15TH U.S. STATE TO LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE

HONOLULU (Rters) - Hawaii’s ernor signed to law on Wednday a bill extendg marriage rights to same-sex upl, ppg 20 years of legal and polil ranr a state regard as a pneer advancg the e of gay matrimony.

CIVIL UNNS AND GAY MARRIAG HAWAII

State to legalize nuptials for gay and lbian upl, rollg back a 1994 statute fg marriage as a unn between a man and a woman.

GAY MARRIAGE

Abercrombie said that spe misgivgs by opponents who felt their relig beliefs were ged, the measure served the “greater good” by more fully embracg gay and lbian members of society, who had long felt margalized. “Now all those who have been visible will be visible to themselv and the world, ” the ernor said before stg down at a table si an dorium of the Honolulu Conventn Center near the cy’s beachont Waikiki area to sign the bill, as supporters epted measure gaed fal approval om the Democrat-ntrolled state legislature on Tuday, 15 days after the start of a special ssn lled by Abercrombie, a first-term Democrat and former ngrsman, to nsir the a week before Hawaii lawmakers approved same-sex marriage, Illois’ General Assembly gave fal approval to a gay marriage bill, but Illois Governor Pat Qun is not expected to sign that measure until later this ROADThe path to legal gay marriage Hawaii, long a popular weddg and honeymoon statn, has been long and state Supreme Court led 1993 that barrg same-sex marriage was discrimatory, a landmark opn that spurred the gay rights movement natnwi but sparked a backlash that until now kept matrimony rtricted to heterosexual upl regnizg the legal tone of that 1993 cisn, Abercrombie hand the pen he ed to sign Wednday’s bill to former state Supreme Court Jtice Steven Levson, who wrote the opn the se known as Baehr vs. Cisn was later tmped by enactment of a 1994 statutory ban on gay nuptials, followed by a voter-approved state nstutnal amendment rervg for the legislature the power to fe the stutn of latt reversal by Hawaii lawmakers at a time of creasg momentum for gay marriage the urts, at the ballot box and stateho across the Uned trend has gaed steam sce the U.

Proponents and opponents of gay marriage have vowed to ntue their battle state by state. RELIGIOUS CONSERVATIVES OPPOSEDAllowg gay upl to marry has been vehemently opposed Hawaii by relig nservativ, as elsewhere the untry. Slom joed three Democrats opposg the Hoe of Reprentativ passed the legislatn last Friday, 30-19, wh a package of amendments aimed at better addrsg relig bill explicly exempts clergy om havg to perform gay weddgs if dog so would nflict wh their relig beliefs.

Massachetts led the way legalizg gay marriage by beg the first state to do so 2003.

GAY MARRIAGE HAWAII

A year ago, only six stat and the District of Columbia regnized gay marriage, but the number has sce more than doubled, due most s to ligatn over the stat - Mae, Maryland and Washgton - beme the first to extend marriage rights to same-sex upl by popular vote wh passage of ballot iativ last month, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie dropped his legal opposn to gay marriage, makg his state the 14th to legalize same-sex weddgs. Senate Bill 232 (Act 1), ma same-sex and oppose-sex upl (gay marriage Hawaii) eligible for civil unn regnn begng Jan. Early Years: Same-Sex Marriage Bans In 1970, jt one year after the historic Stonewall Rts that galvanized the gay rights movement, law stunt Richard Baker and librarian Jam McConnell applied for a marriage license Gerald Nelson rejected their applitn bee they were a same-sex uple, and a trial urt upheld his cisn.

LEGAL GAY MARRIAGE

” This lg effectively blocked feral urts om lg on same-sex marriage for s, leavg the cisn solely the hands of stat, which alt blow after blow to those hopg to see gay marriage beg 1973, for stance, Maryland beme the first state to create a law that explicly f marriage as a unn between a man and woman, a belief held by many nservative relig groups.

CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW ON THE BOOKS. VOTERS ULD REMOVE NEXT YEAR

Though the gay rights movement saw some advancements the 1970s and 1980s—such as Harvey Milk beg the first openly gay man elected to public office the untry 1977—the fight for gay marriage ma ltle headway for many years. In 1989, the San Francis Board of Supervisors passed an ordance that allowed homosexual upl and unmarried heterosexual upl to register for domtic partnerships, which granted hospal visatn rights and other years later, the District of Columbia siarly passed a new law that allowed same-sex upl to register as domtic partners. C., 1993, the hight urt Hawaii led that a ban on same-sex marriage may vlate that state nstutn’s Equal Protectn Clse—the first time a state urt has ever ched toward makg gay marriage Hawaii Supreme Court sent the se—brought by a gay male uple and two lbian upl who were nied marriage licens 1990—back for further review to the lower First Circu Court, which 1991 origally dismissed the the state tried to prove that there was “pellg state tert” jtifyg the ban, the se would be tied up ligatn for the next three Defense of Marriage Act Opponents of gay marriage, however, did not s on their hnch.

Congrs 1996 passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which Print Bill Clton signed to didn’t ban gay marriage outright but specified that only heterosexual upl uld be granted feral marriage benefs. That is, even if a state ma gay marriage legal, same-sex upl still wouldn’t be able to file e tax jotly, sponsor spo for immigratn benefs or receive spoal Social Secury payments, among many other act was a huge setback for the marriage equaly movement, but transient good news arose three months later: Hawaii Judge Kev S.

Phg for Change: Civil Unns The next saw a whirlwd of activy on the gay marriage ont, begng wh the year 2000 when Vermont beme the first state to legalize civil unns, a legal stat that provis most of the state-level benefs of years later, Massachetts beme the first state to legalize gay marriage when the Massachetts Supreme Court led that same-sex upl had the right to marry Goodridge v.