Saturday, January 30, 2010

Hawaii state house members turn down civil unions - By Ben Gutierrez – Hawaii News Now


HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Barely two weeks into the 2010 Hawaii Legislative session, the hot-button issue of civil unions for same-sex couples is essentially dead.

The state house voted Friday to indefinitely postpone any action on the measure. Photo

While dozens, especially white-shirted opponents of the civil unions measure, lined up early to pack the House chamber, House majority Democrats met behind closed doors to decide what to do.

Shortly afterward, House Speaker Calvin made the motion that House Bill 444 "be postponed indefinitely."

House members approved the motion on a voice vote, drawing cheers from opponents, and angry chants of "roll call! Roll call!" from gay activists and other supporters.

Outside the chamber, the anger continued, with opponents chanting, "shame on you! Shame on you!"

"They're not Christians. They can't be Christians and deny others rights," said Carolyn Golojuch, a civil unions supporter and the Civil Rights chair of the Hawaii Democratic Party.

"Fear and bullying tactics superseded integrity and common sense," Alan Spector of the group Equality Hawaii said. Read complete article - By Ben Gutierrez – Hawaii News Now

Related links:

State House Fails To Guarantee Equal Rights To All Hawaii Families – Human Rights Campaign

Hawaii nixes same-sex civil unions bill – by - Mark Niesse - Washington Post

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