Legislation to legalize civil unions has been filed in the Hawaii state legislature, but how far it will advance is unknown. The bill, written by local LGBT civil rights activist Bill Woods-Bateman, does not have a sponsor. At the moment it is sitting on the desk of House Judiciary Chair, Representative Tommy Waters (D). But the measure does have one key supporter - Debi Hartmann and that has surprised a lot of people in the state. In 1998 she led a successful campaign that resulted in the state banning gay marriage. The citizens' referendum pushed at the time by Hartmann gay the legislature the sole power to define marriage in Hawaii. Lawmakers then passed a bill limiting marriage to a man and women. Since then Woods-Bateman has held a series of "educational" meetings with Hartmann. "I started finding out that reciprocal benefits had not been the answer. And some of the other things were that kids were the least protected, and that was heart wrenching to me," Hartmann told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on the weekend. Woods-Bateman believes Hartmann is not the only person to have changed their mind on the subject. "I've seen a change in the way I've been treated. People who are very much in opposition to me, just being gay, will now will sit down and talk to me,” he told the paper. Currently same sex couples can, under state law, apply to become reciprocal beneficiaries under a law passed after the legislature banned gay marriage. "It offers some benefits for some couples, remarked Hernandez, but does not approach even a hint of equality. The new bill was designed to be as equal as possible to marriage and still be constitutionally viable," said Eduardo Hernandez, Executive Director of The LGBT Center. The bill would grant the equal rights and responsibilities of marriage for same-sex couples, while stopping short of being defined as marriage. Nevertheless, Woods-Bateman, Hernandez and other GLBT community leaders across Hawaii are working to build grassroots support for this legislation and consider it to be an important step towards marriage equality. "This bill will provide important legal protection for families across our islands that are currently not available, " said Hernandez. Ref: 365gay.com (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 30th January 2007 - 12:00pm