Constitutional Amendment Passes First Floor
Vote in Hawaii House, 41-7;
Second House Floor Vote Set for 9 A.M., Tuesday, March 5
Friday, March 1, operating under suspended rules, the Hawaii House received a
recommendation from it's judiciary committee of
a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman only. After some floor debate, in which several representatives
objected vigorously and cogently, the House voted 41 to 7 to approve the amendment. This is well above the 2/3 majority needed to put a
constitutional amendment on the November ballot. This is the so-called "second reading" in the parliamentary procedure. A third, and usually
final, "reading" will be held Tuesday, March 5, at 9 am.
If the Constitutional amendment survives 3rd reading, the ball moves into the Senate's court. The Senate Committee on the Judiciary
has already voted AGAINST any constitutional amendment by a vote of 4 to 3. The Senate is preparing to vote a domestic partnership bill on Tuesday
as well (the House Judiciary committee killed domestic partnerships by a wide margin). Now, eyeball to eyeball, ........
Tom Ramsey
Co-Coordinator
Hawaii Equal Rights Marriage
Project
P.S. The Hawaii Equal Rights Marriage Project, HERMP, is the sole support of the work of Dan Foley on Baehr v. Lewin (Foley is the attorney who makes
all court appearances on behalf of the plaintiff couples). Please be generous in support of HERMP; Hawaii is a small state, and the tiny gay and lesbian
community here is very active in advocacy work which HERMP cannot address. Donations to HERMP are fully tax-deductible, and should be made out to
GLCC-HERMP
1521 Alexander Street, #503
Honolulu, HI 96822.
The HERMP branch in Kona, on the Big Island, has produced a T-shirt for sale. One can send a check for $17.50 to HERMP, P.O.Box 902, Captain
Cook, HI 96704, together with a note about being sent a T-shirt (S, M, L, XL, XXL). It is also available in a tank top. The design is multi-color
on white. A large triangle points down, with the letters h.e.r.m.p above the triangle, some male-male, female-female symbols in the border of the
triangle and some palm trees. To place an email order for T-shirts, or to obtain more information, please email
skippero@aol.com. An image of the T-shirt is available via the
web on
http://www.qrd.org/QRD/www/usa/maine/hawaii-tee.html
Web sites for HERMP information:
For the official report of the Commission on Sexual Orientation and the Law:
http://www.hawaii.gov/lrb/solcvr.html
For national as well as Hawaii information:
http://nether.net/~rod/html/sub/marriage.html
http://www.well.com/user/davadam/hermp.html