Democratic Party rules forbid members from actively working against platform

There has been much confusion and misinformation about the charges I filed against 11 elected officials on behalf of the GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.

First and foremost, there is no connection between these charges and the Legislature’s ability to hold a special session to pass marriage equality; they are mutually exclusive.

The former is in regards to a private organization considering lawfully filed charges against its members.

The latter concerns the Legislature rectifying an unconstitutional law in response to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the Defense of Marriage Act.

Had these 11 Democratic legislators been charged with failing to support the party platform, the allegations would have been dismissed as meritless.

Rather, I filed charges because these 11 Democrats actively worked against the Human and Civil Rights plank of the Democratic Party’s platform when they filed House Bill 1020 and Senate Bill 1292.

These identical bills called for a constitutional amendment to define marriage only as between one man and one woman, in violation of Democratic Party rules.

The party platform states, "We support the rights of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex community to equality before the law, including the right to equal relationship recognition including but not limited to equal marriage rights both at the State and Federal level."

The party rules are very clear: You do not have to support the party platform 100 percent or even 10 percent, but you cannot actively work against the platform.

If every elected Democrat supported the party platform in its entirety, Hawaii would have a living wage for all workers; single-payer health care; marriage equality; energy self-sufficiency; taxed, regulated and legal marijuana; and excellent educational opportunities for every student from preschool to college.

These charges are not the result of a feud or personal vendetta. In fact, the issue was brought to my attention because I am chairman of the GLBT Caucus. It was my obligation to present these charges to the caucus’ steering committee, where it received unanimous support. When the full GLBT Caucus voted on the charges, only one member was in opposition.

These charges were filed in accordance with the party rules. The party platform was passed by unanimous consent of the more than 600 delegates at the Democratic Party of Hawaii’s state convention in May 2012. The changes to the rules passed by a super majority at that same convention. At no time during the convention did any of these 11 Democrats raise any concern over the changes to the rules or the platform.

The 11 Democrats have not denied that they have actively worked against the party platform. It appears their sole defense is that they should not be subjected to the rules, the very rules that they took an oath to abide by when they joined the party voluntarily. There is a right of free association and the Democrat Party of Hawaii can exercise it.

The Oahu County Committee will hear the charges on Aug. 10 at its regular meeting. At that time, the committee could decide to accept the recommendations of the investigative committee to dismiss the charges against nine of the legislators who merely signed on to the bills and uphold charges against the two legislators who introduced the bills and actively gathered support.

The investigative committee has recommended reprimand of state Sen. Mike Gabbard, with the punishment of not being able to hold any office in the Democratic Party for three years. The committee also recommended censure of state Rep. Sharon Har, with her punishment being unable to file as a Democrat for any race for six months.

Or the committee could disagree with the recommendations and make its own determination.