Same-sex marriage in Hawaii

Hawaii's denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples was first challenged in state court in 1991, and the plaintiffs initially met with some success.

By the time the Supreme Court of Hawaii considered the final appeal in the case in 1999, it upheld the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

This amendment was ultimately repealed by voters through a ballot measure in 2024, explicitly removing the Legislature's authority to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples.

In 1991, three same-sex couples sued Hawaii Director of Health John C. Lewin in his official capacity, seeking to force the state to issue them marriage licenses.

The couples were Genora Dancel and Ninia Baehr, Joseph Melillo and Pat Lagon, and Tammy Rodrigues and Antoinette Pregil.

The court remanded the case to the trial court, instructing that "in accordance with the 'strict scrutiny' standard, the burden will rest on Lewin to overcome the presumption that HRS § 572-1 [the state's marriage statute] is unconstitutional by demonstrating that it furthers compelling state interests and is narrowly drawn to avoid unnecessary abridgments of constitutional rights.

It did not prove that the state had a compelling interest in denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples and even assuming that it had it had not proven that HRS § 572-1 was narrowly tailored to avoid unnecessary abridgement of constitutional rights.

[4] The following day, Chang stayed his ruling, acknowledging the "legally untenable" position couples would be in should the Hawaii Supreme Court reverse him on appeal.

Because the remedy sought by the plaintiffs – access to marriage licenses – was no longer available, this reversed Chang's ruling and remanded the case for entry of judgment in favor of the defendant.

[9] Senator Chris Lee and Representative Adrian Tam announced their support for the campaign and pledged to push for the passage of legislation repealing the amendment.

[16] Civil unions (Hawaiian: uniona kīwila,[18] pronounced [uniˈjonə tiːˈvilə]) were introduced in Hawaii on January 1, 2012, following the passage of legislation in early 2011.

On January 27, 2012, an amended complaint added plaintiff Gary Bradley, a partner in a same-sex civil union, who wanted to marry but thought it futile to apply.

[35] In an order issued on August 8, 2012, U.S. District Court Judge Alan Kay rejected the plaintiffs' claims and granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment, upholding Hawaii's ban on same-sex marriage.

The Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments on September 8, 2014, along with Sevcik and another related case, Latta v. Otter, before Judges Stephen Reinhardt, Ronald M. Gould, and Marsha Berzon.

[40] The Ninth Circuit announced on October 10, 2014 that it had dismissed the case as moot because of Hawaii's legalization of same-sex marriage and voided the district court's decision.

By September, after the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry, as well as months of negotiations within the Senate and House Democratic caucuses and with leaders of both chambers of the State Legislature, Governor Neil Abercrombie called forth a special session for October 28, with the promise of signing the bill, and the chamber leaderships were confident in having the necessary majority for passage.

[49] The first same-sex couple to marry in Hawaii was Jonipher Kwong and Chris Nelson seconds after midnight on December 2 at the First Unitarian Church in Honolulu.

On February 19, 2014, Hawaii District Court Judge Susan Oki Mollway found that the plaintiff lacked standing and dismissed the challenge.

[62] A June 2010 study conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles indicated that same-sex couples would spend between $4.2 and $9.5 million on their wedding celebrations if allowed to marry in Hawaii.

Out-of-state guests would spend an additional $17.8 to $40.3 million, which would in turn create 193 to 333 new jobs in Hawaii primarily in the events and travel industries.