Oahu Democrats on Saturday moved to temper an intraparty fight over traditional marriage and focus on persuading Gov. Neil Abercrombie and the state Legislature to return in special session to consider marriage equality.
Democrats voted to reject a recommendation from an investigative panel that state Sen. Mike Gabbard be reprimanded for sponsoring a constitutional amendment on traditional marriage last session. After the vote, the gay activist who had filed a complaint against Gabbard alleging that the bill violated the party’s platform on equal rights agreed to withdraw a pending complaint against state Rep. Sharon Har, who had sponsored an identical bill and was facing a potential censure in October.
By dispatching the complaints, Democrats hope to remove an obstacle for a special session on gay marriage. Abercrombie and the state Senate appear open to a special session, but state House leaders have said that the complaints have complicated the discussion.
Oahu Democrats voted on Saturday to urge lawmakers to go into special session on gay marriage instead of waiting to address the issue during the next session of the Legislature in January. The U.S. Supreme Court rulings in June that same-sex couples who are legally married are entitled to federal benefits have renewed calls for gay marriage in Hawaii.
Same-sex and heterosexual couples in Hawaii can enter into civil unions and receive the same rights and benefits of marriage under state law, but not federal law.
House and Senate leaders have said they do not have the two-thirds’ support necessary for a special session, leaving the decision up to Abercrombie, who has the power to call lawmakers back. The governor, his aides have said, has been waiting for a signal that the House has the votes for gay marriage.
"I think the main takeaway from this is that the Oahu County committee has recommended that the Legislature work as quickly as possible to try to pass marriage-equality legislation," said Josh Wisch, the chairman of the Oahu Democrats.
Influential Democrats had been quietly counseling Oahu Democrats to dispose of the complaints before Saturday’s private debate at the Hawaii Government Employees Association meeting hall downtown. Some had warned that the complaints were undermining talks about a special session.
"The Democratic Party really needs to focus on positive and constructive ways that it can be relevant in Hawaii," said House Majority Leader Scott Saiki (D, Downtown-Kakaako-McCully). "The handling of this matter has really complicated the prospects for a special session on marriage equality. The Legislature will have to discuss its approach to dealing with this issue."
The complaints had originally been filed in February by Michael Golojuch Jr., the chairman of the party’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender caucus, against 11 House and Senate Democrats who sponsored or co-sponsored the constitutional amendments on traditional marriage. The bills did not get hearings but remain alive for next session.
The investigative panel that reviewed the complaints recommended that Gabbard be reprimanded and Har be censured because they were the primary sponsors. Gabbard faced the more serious punishment of reprimand because he had been previously sanctioned by the party in 2009 for actively working against a civil unions bill.
The panel urged that the complaints against the other nine lawmakers be dismissed, and Golojuch withdrew those complaints last week. A separate complaint pending against Rep. Clift Tsuji before Hawaii County Democrats was also withdrawn.
Har had obtained an extension from the party until October so she could better prepare her defense, so only Gabbard appeared on Saturday to answer before his fellow Democrats. Both Gabbard and Har had said they have legislative immunity for official actions such as sponsoring bills and noted that Democrats do not have to agree with every plank in the party’s platform.
"Mahalo to the members of the Oahu County committee for seeing this complaint for what it was — a long-standing personal grudge," Gabbard (D, Kapolei-Makakilo) said in an email. "And also for understanding that it’s critical that we as elected officials simply must have the freedom to listen to our constituents and take positions that may sometimes be contrary to the party platform.
"This is key to having a healthy debate on the issues and to the functioning of our democratic system."
Har (D, Kapolei-Makakilo) would not comment.
Golojuch said the complaints brought more attention to the party’s platform, which supports gay marriage as a human and civil rights issue.
"Unfortunately, there was not the political will today to stand by our platform and our rules," he said.
Doug Pyle, who serves on the party’s state central committee and labor caucus, called the resolution urging a special session on gay marriage the "best possible outcome."
"I think the public cares about the issue. A lot of the activists pay attention to rules and procedures," he said. "But what’s really essential is winning equal rights for all."
