In the 14 years since Hawaii has allowed limited benefits to same-sex couples, just 1,852 couples have signed up as "reciprocal beneficiaries," but greater demand is expected for civil unions, set to launch on Jan. 1.

"It was not a very popular law because it was a very inadequate law," said Alan Spector, co-chair of Equality Hawaii, referring to the "reciprocal beneficiary" law passed in 1997, which conferred some rights such as inheritance and hospital visitation. "It is narrowly defined."

"It’s not like civil unions that are all-encompassing," added Spector, a psychotherapist who married his partner in Canada before moving to Hawaii. "Anything that is offered to a spouse in marriage is offered to partners in civil unions."

Civil unions in Hawaii will bestow all the rights and responsibilities of marriage that are extended by the state. Those include access to medical coverage for family members, shared responsibility for finances and children, adoption and parental rights, and joint state taxation — everything except federal spousal rights.

"I think it really helps the establishment of a family unit," said Rep. Blake Oshi­ro, (D, Halawa-Aiea), House majority leader and sponsor of the civil unions bill that was signed into law on Feb. 23. "Medical benefits is one of the biggies, along with some potential tax implications on the state level, and the third has to do with availing themselves of Family Court."

In contrast, "reciprocal beneficiary" legislation steered clear of those issues, and was simply an effort to give same-sex couples some protections. A reciprocal beneficiary agreement confers property rights, the right to visit a partner in the hospital and make health care decisions for him or her, inheritance rights and protection under Hawaii’s domestic violence law.

A total of 1,852 pairs in Hawaii have registered as "reciprocal beneficiaries" as of July 15, and 284 have dissolved their relationships, leaving 1,568 pairs still in such relationships in Hawaii, according to Dr. Alvin Ona­ka, state registrar of vital statistics. The simple form required to register as a reciprocal beneficiary doesn’t ask gender or nature of the relationship between the two parties, so there is no way to determine how many are same-sex couples and how many are blood relatives also eligible for such status, such as a parent and adult son or daughter. The records are confidential, said Janice Okubo, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health.

Reciprocal beneficiary status is open only to consenting adults who are prohibited from marrying, not to opposite-sex couples. Civil unions are available to gay couples as well as heterosexual couples. So it is hard to gauge demand for civil unions based on the number of people who signed up as reciprocal beneficiaries.

A report released in February by the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization projected that 1,962 same-sex couples who live in Hawaii would enter civil unions over the next six years, an average of 382 per year, with more expected to hold their ceremonies right after the law takes effect. The report, "The Impact of Civil Unions on Hawaii’s Economy and Government," was written by Sumner La Croix and Kimberly Burnett.

They based their estimate on the rate that couples in Vermont entered civil unions since its law took effect in July 2000, and on 2005 U.S. Census data from the American Community Survey that showed 3,262 same-sex couples living in Hawaii. New data from the 2010 census show the number of same-sex households in Hawaii has grown to 4,248, a 30 percent increase since 2005. So the projection could be revised upward as well.

The UHERO report concluded that passage of civil unions will have "only a very minimal impact on any aspect of Hawaii’s economy and state government operations." It projected civil unions would generate small increases in state revenues through fees, excise taxes and state income taxes, and would not substantially boost the percentage of the state’s population covered by health insurance.

Although medical coverage is considered one of the big benefits of civil unions, the UHERO study found that many big employers in Hawaii — including the state, the city, Bank of Hawaii, Hawaiian Air and Hawaiian Electric Industries — already provide such coverage to domestic partners. And few employees actually sign up. That is in part because many are already covered as individuals through their own job or government programs. Another disincentive is that it costs more to add a domestic partner than a spouse to a health plan, because premiums must be paid with after-tax income and the benefits are subject to tax.

Another key difference between reciprocal beneficiary agreements and civil unions is how they end.

"With RB, it was a unilateral decision," Oshiro said. "One person could put in a form and immediately the relationship is dissolved, without implications, whether it’s financial or children. With civil unions, if there’s any of those considerations, they do need to go through Family Court." Civil unions include provisions for alimony and child support.

Six states already allow domestic partnerships or civil unions with substantially the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. Another six states and the District of Columbia offer same-sex marriage, including New York, which legalized it in June.

"Come Jan. 1, Hawaii will give us spousal rights under state law, but not as a married couple," Spector said. "It’s a bittersweet victory. Our passage of civil unions doesn’t seem as much an exciting victory now that we have full marriage in New York."