Solid groundwork required before calling session

Gov. Neil Abercrombie has indicated he likely will call for a special session of the state Legislature on the issue of same-sex marriage. And while the time is indeed ripe for Hawaii to do the right thing — namely, legalize marriage for same-sex couples in the name of civil liberties — the next steps must be clear-headed to yield a legally sound bill with adequate legislative support for enactment.

The federal government will extend more than 1,000 benefits to those in the military and is poised to do the same for same-sex couples living in states where they have wed. Hawaii should be among them as soon as — but not before — the way ahead becomes clear.

The governor told the Star-Advertiser’s Derrick DePledge on Sunday that it is "very likely" he will order a special session to address the issue, and is intent on drafting a legally sound bill to present to the Legislature. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia recognize same-sex marriage; Hawaii, meanwhile, is among 10 states that allow civil unions and partnerships of gays and lesbians.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in June that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act — which restricted federal recognition of marriage to one man and one woman — as unconstitutional has changed the legal framework for Hawaii and other states that allow civil-union members to receive generally the same rights and benefits as marriage under state law.

There are, indeed, confusing laws and potentially overlapping regulations that need to be vetted and clarified, so as not to invite legal ambiguity and challenges. Any same-sex marriage bill proposed for a special session, then, must be well-crafted from the get-go — and even then, state lawmakers must enter any such session with full expectation that public hearing and contentious debate could bog down the issue.

"We’re not necessarily going to agree on every aspect of how to move forward where justice and freedom and opportunity are concerned," Abercrombie told a Democratic Party of Hawaii gathering on Sunday. "But I think we can put together something that can achieve a solid majority, that will give us the opportunity to establish marriage equity in the state of Hawaii commensurate with the Supreme Court decisions."

Abercrombie said such a bill should "resolve the issues" in a Hawaii case at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the lack of legal same-sex marriage status violated constitutional equal-protec- tion and due-process guarantees — a large step beyond the U.S. Supreme ruling. Blake Oshiro, his deputy chief of staff, is working with the state attorney general to draft a legally sound bill.

One existing bill that seems to meet the threshold is Senate Bill 1369, which was introduced in January but was shelved in committee. It recognizes marriages between individuals of the same sex, and "extends to same-sex couples the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities of marriage that opposite-sex couples receive."

It also provides for two people already in a civil union or reciprocal beneficiary relationship to marry, then transition, benefits.

On Monday, more than 30 representatives of faith-based groups signed a resolution supporting of marriage equality. Last week, Hawaii’s congressional delegation united in urging Abercrombie and the Legislature to pass marriage equality without delay. It is becoming clearer that Hawaii has the will and is on the brink of eliminating the statutory definition of marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman, and enable marriages for all loving couples.