Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Will the Aloha State be next?

From ThinkProgress:
Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) has called for a special legislative session to consider a marriage equality bill, pointing out that allowing same-sex couples to marry is important to address in a timely fashion because of implications for those couples’ taxes next year. The session will begin October 28 and last a couple of days, but Abercrombie believes that every view “has been aired, has been analyzed, has been discussed” such that “no one has been left out or has been marginalized in the process to this point.”
The proposed bill specifically references the Supreme Court’s decisions earlier this summer in the Windsor case overturning the Defense of Marriage Act, highlighting how the state’s civil unions deprive couples of the federal rights they could now access with marriage.... 
Marriage equality legislation was proposed earlier this year, but did not advance due to procedural hurdles by a few lawmakers that prevented it from advancing through the committee process. Nevertheless, polls consistently show that a majority of Hawaiians support full marriage equality.
Aloha, indeed!

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