Former City Councilman Gary Okino’s unwavering comments about his intolerance of gays and lesbians spurred Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell to nix Okino’s nomination to the city Ethics Board of Appeals.
At a City Council Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Okino told members querying him on his nomination that "I have no tolerance for homosexuality" and that gay people "are in danger not only spiritually, but physically."
Despite the comments and objections raised by several gay rights activists at the meeting, the committee voted 7-0 to send Okino’s nomination to a final vote before the full Council on Wednesday.
Council members Ikaika Anderson and Stanley Chang, neither of whom attended Tuesday’s meeting, on Friday said they were bothered by Okino’s comments and intended to vote against the nomination.
Mid-Friday afternoon, Caldwell sent a letter to Council Chairman Ernie Martin withdrawing Okino’s nomination to the board.
"There is no place for discrimination of any kind in city government, and even though Mr. Okino stated he would not discriminate if he was appointed as a member of the Ethics Board of Appeals, I find his position on the gay community to be a problem," Caldwell said in a statement.
He said the suggestion to withdraw Okino’s nomination actually came from Martin. After discussing with Martin the concerns raised by Council members, the mayor said, "I concur with his recommendation to withdraw Mr. Okino’s nomination."
Okino, 71, was nominated by former Mayor Peter Carlisle late last year before he left office.
A Council member from 2000 to 2010 and an outspoken critic of civil unions, Okino ran unsuccessfully in the November 2010 election against incumbent state Rep. Blake Oshiro, who authored the civil unions bill.
At Tuesday’s meeting, several gay rights activists reminded Council members of Okino’s strong positions and urged that those be considered in deciding his nomination.
After the comments, Okino asked members to ask questions of him so he could explain himself.
Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi referenced remarks made by President Barack Obama the previous day equating gay marriage to civil rights and asked Okino whether he felt he same way.
Okino, in response, said just as people are not tolerant of murder or drug abuse, "I have no tolerance for homosexuality."
A devout Catholic, Okino told Council members that faith and divine law tell him "that same-sex marriage and homosexuality (are) not pono. … It’s immoral, it’s deviant."
Further, "they are in danger not only spiritually, but physically," Okino said. Besides HIV, he said, "there is an outbreak now of anal, penile and throat cancers among the homosexual community."
In response to a question from Executive Matters Chairman Ron Menor, Okino said he did not believe his religious views would cloud his ability to be impartial.
Councilwoman Kymberly Pine said, "As much as you may have offended some people in this room, I cannot, according to the Constitution … deny you this job because of what you believe in."
Councilman Breene Harimoto, a one-time Okino aide and his successor, said his former boss has high ethical and moral standards, and called discussion of his religious beliefs "not on point."
Martin called Okino "a man of integrity" and urged his colleagues to support him.
Honolulu resident Holly Huber, among those who testified against Okino’s nomination, said she was upset no Council members raised objections to his statements.
"They were more concerned about Mr. Okino’s rights than they were that of gays and lesbians," Huber said. Carolyn Golojuch, president of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays-Oahu chapter, walked out in tears after hearing Okino’s remarks, she said.
Gay-rights activist Mitch Kahle said that to let Okino’s comments go by without objecting to them constitutes tacit approval of them.
There are consequences "if you’re going to use derogatory language about a class of citizens … with derogatory and defamatory language," Kahle said.
He added that while Okino’s comments would have been offensive in any setting, they were particularly troubling coming from someone being asked about serving on an ethics panel. Among the most common ethics violations are those that deal with discrimination statutes, including some that may deal with discrimination against sexual orientation, he said.
Anderson echoed Kahle’s comments in an interview with the Star-Advertiser on Friday.
"I’m not comfortable that Gary Okino could serve in any capacity where a gay or lesbian would appear before him," Anderson said.
Okino, reached Friday afternoon, said he discovered from news media that his name had been withdrawn. Caldwell had left a voicemail message on his cellphone to call back, but he was unable to reach the mayor later. Okino said he was surprised by Caldwell’s action because "I didn’t think he could withdraw my name since he didn’t make the nomination."
Okino said he wants to either hold a news conference or issue a statement today after he’s had some time to think about what he will say.
"I don’t hate homosexuals. It’s like a drug addict: You don’t hate the person; you hate what he’s doing," he said.
He reiterated that he does not believe his intolerance of homosexuality would influence his thought process on issues coming before the ethics appeals panel.
"If a person had maliciously used another person’s sexual orientation to discriminate against him, that’s not right," Okino said.
He said he views divine law as having higher priority than even the U.S. Constitution because he does not believe the Constitution would exist without divine law.
"There is no such thing as separation of church and state," he said.
