Hawaii House Bill 444
1 as introduced and passed by the Hawaii House of Representatives "extends the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities of spouses in a marriage to partners in a civil union.
[2] The bill also enumerated familial relationships in which civil unions would be automatically nullified, such as a man with his father, grandfather, or son, or a woman with her mother, grandmother, or daughter.
[2] Section 1, § —9 of House Bill 444 explained that "partners to a civil union ... shall have all the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities under law ... as are granted to spouses in a marriage.
[11] Senator Will Espero offered an amendment to the bill that would have reduced the number of benefits granted, stating this would remove concerns that civil unions were similar to marriage.
[10] Passing an amended bill would have required the House to vote on it again or to establish a conference committee to negotiate differences between versions of both chambers.
[16] The amendment was adopted, which killed the bill, as a revised version required renewed approval by the Hawaii House of Representatives and the legislature adjourned May 8, 2009.
[17] The Senate passed an unchanged bill on January 22, 2010, with a veto-proof two-thirds' majority, after an amendment to update the effective date was rejected.
[21] On April 29, the last day of the legislative session, the Senate bill was revived in the Hawaii House following a motion by Majority Leader Blake Oshiro.
[1] Religious groups began to set up websites, take out newspaper advertisements and hold rallies in opposition to the bill, arguing it ran against marriage.
[1] The Roman Catholic Bishop of Honolulu, Clarence Richard Silva, called the bill "a travesty to the democratic process" that "ignores the will of the people.
"[8] Marc Alexander, vicar general of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, argued that civil unions are "same-sex marriage under a different name".
[8] Interfaith Alliance Hawaii, made up of people of Christian, Jewish and Buddhist faiths, stated their support for the bill and argued it did not "endanger [civil unions opponents'] concept of marriage or family values.
Kim Coco Iwamoto of the Hawaii Board of Education countered civil unions would make children in gay families less likely to be harassed.
[25] Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii Duke Aiona criticized the bill, arguing it "attempts to circumvent the will of the people by authorizing the equivalent to same-sex marriage".
[11] Father Richard Shields of the Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii stated religion should be taken out of the argument and a spokesperson for the hotel and restaurant union Local 5 argued the bill provided economic justice.
[15] Hawaii Family Forum leader and former Democratic state representative Dennis Arakaki commented that "things worked out for the good.
"[15] Hooser began a campaign in June 2009 to be elected Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii in 2010, calling his support for the bill an act on a "critical issue".
[28] On July 6, 2010, following Lingle's veto of the bill, Lambda Legal and the ACLU announced that they would file a lawsuit to enable civil unions, stating that "our constitution prevents discrimination based on sexual orientation.
