Don't allow anti-civil union actions

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 04, 2012

~~<p>When Act 1 was signed into law last year, supporters celebrated it as an affirmation that everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, should have equal access to the protection and benefits afforded by state government. No, civil unions do not provide everything that marriages do — no assurance of interstate recognition, no granting of federal benefits — but it was at least an assurance that Hawaii would do all it could to equalize rights for couples living in the islands.</p>
<p>What a shame it would be to diminish that achievement by carving out a broad exemption to at least one of the legal protections the new law provides.</p>
~~

When Act 1 was signed into law last year, supporters celebrated it as an affirmation that everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, should have equal access to the protection and benefits afforded by state government. No, civil unions do not provide everything that marriages do — no assurance of interstate recognition, no granting of federal benefits — but it was at least an assurance that Hawaii would do all it could to equalize rights for couples living in the islands.

What a shame it would be to diminish that achievement by carving out a broad exemption to at least one of the legal protections the new law provides. Login for more...