The 1st court victory was in Hawaii, but marriage equality took 20 years to come to the state, taught advocates value of persistence
Hawaii appeared to be the perfect place to begin the marriage equality battle — a liberal state where more than half of all marriages are interracial. The battle appeared to be won after a state Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that excluding same-sex couples from marriage was discriminatory.
The state’s large Mormon community, along with other religious conservatives, organized opposition with money that poured in from around the country to stop the growing push toward marriage equality.
The battle began in 1991 when three same-sex couples sued the Hawaii Director of Health to force him to issue them marriage licenses. The trial court dismissed the case, so they appealed to the Hawaii Supreme Court. In the 1993 ruling, the state Supreme Court put the burden of proof on the state to justify discrimination when it sent the case back to the trial court.
The trial court judge rejected the state’s arguments in its 1996 decision and ruled Hawaii had no reason to keep same-sex couples from marrying. The state appealed to the same Supreme Court that ruled in favor of marriage equality three years earlier.
However, before the state Supreme Court could affirm its earlier decision and establish marriage equality in Hawaii, voters passed a constitutional amendment in 1998 allowing the Legislature to define marriage. The Legislature passed a bill defining marriage as between one man and one woman, prolonging the battle in the state for another 15 years.
The fight for marriage equality heated up again in 2010 with passage of a civil union bill, which Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, the state’s first Republican governor, vetoed.
“I have been open and consistent in my opposition to same-gender marriage,” Lingle said at a news conference that year, “and find that House Bill 444 is essentially marriage by another name.”
Soon after being sworn into office in 2011, Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed a civil union bill into law.
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2013 that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional and federal agencies began granting equal rights to married couples, the civil unions Hawaii was issuing were useless in gaining federal benefits. Abercrombie called a special session of the Legislature in October to change the law.
Since the constitutional amendment allowed the Legislature to define marriage, lawmakers changed the definition and after a battle that began in 1991, marriage equality came to the state in 2013.
Evan Wolfson, the original co-council in the Hawaii marriage case, is founder and president of the national organization Freedom to Marry.
He said after Hawaii’s Legislature passed marriage equality, he decided to go to the bill’s signing.
“I wanted to honor the history,” he said. “So many lawmakers who had done the wrong thing years ago, were part of doing the right thing.”
He said he saw two paths to bringing marriage equality to Texas. One is by working within the state to overturn the constitutional amendment, passed in 2005, in the courts or on the ballot. The other is through a national campaign to which Texas must contribute.
Wolfson said following the Roadmap to Victory laid out on the Freedom to Marry website, Texas will see marriage equality within years rather than in another decade. That plan includes adding more states until a majority of people live in marriage-equality states, increasing public support for marriage equality and then bringing a complete end to federal marriage equality.
He said it’s important for Texans to hear the voices they may not have expected to hear stand up for LGBT equality, such as Republican allies. He encourages Texans to use their shared values, such as personal freedoms and limited government, to make the case for same-sex marriage.
He also said he’d like to elevate Latino voices so people can hear about diverse LGBT families.
“It’s powerful when federal judges, even in Utah and Oklahoma, are willing to uphold the Constitution,” Wolfson said.
He encouraged everyone to continue telling their stories of love and commitment, as well as how they’ve experienced discrimination.
Brian Silva, executive director of Marriage Equality USA, said the Hawaii fight taught the LGBT community persistence. He said that lesson is the key to winning marriage equality in conservative states like Texas.
“It’s going to take a lot of individuals doing grassroots work to change hearts and minds in the state,” Silva said.
He called the marriage equality court decisions in Utah and Oklahoma important milestones.
“When the courts in states with a history of less equality rule that way, there’s a message rights for LGBT people aren’t up to the whims of the region,” he said.
Silva called the judge in the Utah case, who had been nominated by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, “clearly conservative.”
The movement toward marriage equality isn’t a fight for same-sex marriage in blue states, he said. The goal isn’t to move to a two-tier system where gays and lesbians are second-class citizens in some places.
More than 40 marriage cases are pending around the country, including three in Texas. Silva said some cases around the country may be stronger than others but some may surprise us. No one expected the next marriage equality state after Hawaii to be Utah.
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HISTORY OF MARRIAGE EQUALITY
CALIFORNIA
Legalized: May 15, 2008
Effective: June 16, 2008
By court ruling on hold Nov. 2008–June 28, 2013 due to Prop. 8. June 26, 2013 Supreme Court ruling
CONNETICUT
Legalized: Oct. 10, 2008
Effective: Nov. 12, 2008
By court ruling
DELAWARE
Legalized: May 7, 2013
Effective: July 1, 2013
Legislature
MARYLAND
Legalized: Nov. 6, 2012
Effective: Jan. 1, 2013
Legislature
District of Columbia
Legalized: Dec. 18, 2009
Effective: March 9, 2010
City council
HAWAII
Legalized: Nov. 13, 2013
Effective: Dec. 2, 2013
Legislature
ILLINOIS
Legalized: Nov. 20, 2013
Effective: June 1, 2014
Legislature
IOWA
Legalized: April 3, 2009
Effective: April 27,2009
By court ruling
MASSACHUSETTS
Legalized: Nov. 18, 2003
Effective: May 17, 2004
By court ruling
MAINE
Legalized: Nov. 6, 2012
Effective: Dec. 29, 2012
Voters
MINNESOTA
Legalized: May 14, 2013
Effective: Aug. 1, 2013
Legislature
NEW JERSEY
Legalized: Sept. 27, 2013
Effective: Oct. 21, 2013
By court ruling
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Legalized: June 3, 2009
Effective: Jan. 1, 2010
Legislature
NEW MEXICO
Legalized: Dec. 19, 2013
Effective: Dec. 19, 2013
By court ruling.
8 counties began issuing licenses in Aug. 2013
NEW YORK
Legalized: June 24, 2011
Effective: July 24, 2011
Legislature
RHODE ISLAND
Legalized: May 2, 2013
Effective: Aug. 1, 2013
Legislature
VERMONT
Legalized: April 7, 2009
Effective: Sept. 1, 2009
Legislature
WASHINGTON
Legalized: Nov. 6, 2012
Effective: Dec. 6, 2012
Legislature
Other status
OHIO
recognizes marriages for death certificates only
OKLAHOMA
Started: Jan. 14, 2014
Stayed: Jan. 14, 2014
By court ruling. No marriages were performed in the state as a result of the ruling, however several couple married on Indian reservations
OREGON
recognizes marriages performed elsewhere
UTAH
Started: Dec. 20, 2013
Stayed: Jan. 6, 2014
By court ruling. More than 1,300 couples married before ruling was stayed
Other marriage equality countries
Argentina, Belgium
Brazil, Canada
Denmark , France, Iceland
Mexico (marriages performed in Federal District and Quintana Roo and recognized nationwide)
Netherlands (including Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten)
New Zealand, Norway
Portugal, South Africa
Spain, Sweden, Uruguay
Marriage equality to begin in 2014:
United Kingdom: England and Wales
Marriage performed elsewhere recognized:
ISRAEL
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition January 24, 2014.