FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 3, 1996

GLAD Attorneys Comment on Victory in Hawaii Marriage Case

(Boston, Massachusetts) Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) today praised a landmark victory for gay men and lesbians in the “Hawaii Same-Sex Marriage Case.”

Shortly after 5 p.m. EST, Hawaii Circuit Court Judge Kevin Chang issued a written decision declaring the State of Hawaii has no justification for forbidding same-gender couples from marrying. No marriage licenses will yet be issued to couples, however, as the decision is expected to be appealed by the State to the Hawaii Supreme Court with a final decision in 1998. Amelia Craig, Executive Director of GLAD, a New England-wide legal organization which submitted a ‘friend of the court’ brief in the case and which is a founding member of the National Freedom to Marry Coalition, called the decision “nothing short of historic” but observed “same-gender couples are still not afforded the hundreds of legal protections of civil marriage in any state, no matter how long they have been together, no matter how committed the relationship, and no matter how much their families need the protections and responsibilities that come with civil marriage.” Nevertheless, Craig predicted the Hawaii Supreme Court will ultimately affirm today’s decision.”

Judge Chang presided over a two-week trial in September which trial was necessitated by a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling in May, 1993 that the state’s refusal to allow same-sex couples to marry was sex discrimination forbidden by the Hawaii state constitution. The high court ordered the State to demonstrate, if it could, a “compelling interest” to justify its discrim-ination. At trial, the State argued its interest in encouraging procreation and the rearing of children by their married and biological parents justified its refusal to let same-sex couples marry. Experts on both sides of the issue, however, conceded that gay people are already doing a good job of parenting large numbers of children, and that many parents are neither married nor biologically related to their children.

Mary Bonauto, another GLAD attorney active on the marriage issue throughout New England, called the decision “a critical step toward recognizing that marriage is a basic human right and an important personal choice with which the state should not interfere. The decision to legally marry should belong to the couple in love, and not to the state.”

This case has its limits: it is about the right to civil marriage; not religious marriage. The Hawaii case is also in line with other cases challenging prohibition on who may marry whom. Fewer than thirty years ago, interracial couples were forbidden from legally marrying, and interfaith marriages were once prohibited.

GLAD is New England’s leading legal rights organization for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and people with HIV. GLAD’s mission is to achieve full equality and justice for all individuals in these groups, primarily through impact litigation and education.