Question: What ever happened to the same-sex marriage lawsuit filed in federal court in December 2011 by a couple after the state refused to issue them a marriage license?
Answer: The case filed against Gov. Neil Abercrombie, state Health Director Loretta Fuddy and the Hawaii Family Forum is at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to attorney John D’Amato.
He is representing plaintiffs Natasha Jackson and Janin Kleid, who were denied a marriage license, and Gary Bradley, who has a male partner.
Jackson and Kleid claim the state violated their due process and equal protection rights under the 14th Amendment when they were denied a marriage license by the Health Department.
The appeal was stayed until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that gay couples legally married under state laws are entitled to federal tax and health care benefits. The historic decision struck down the federal 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which had recognized marriage as between a man and a woman. The court ruled that states have the authority to define marriage.
D’Amato filed a motion Wednesday requesting an extension of the filing deadline for his clients’ opening briefs to Nov. 22 because of an Oct. 28 special session called by Gov. Neil Abercrombie to consider a bill on same-sex marriage. The latest draft is available on the governor’s website at governor.hawaii.gov.
If passed as proposed, the marriage equity bill would take effect Nov. 18, and the same-sex marriage case will become moot. If it doesn’t pass, briefings will continue, and the plaintiffs will await a decision by the 9th Circuit. A decision is expected by late next year, according to D’Amato.
The state has taken different positions on the state’s marriage law: Abercrombie has refused to defend it, while the Health Department does.
D’Amato, who supports the bill, said, “Hawaii started this whole movement with the (Ninia) Baehr case. It’s my hope that it will finish what it started in the special session.”
A 1993 Hawaii Supreme Court landmark decision in the Baehr v. Lewin case ruled that denying marriage licenses to gay couples was discriminatory.
In 1998, however, Hawaii voters approved a state constitutional amendment that gave the Legislature the authority to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples.
Currently, same-sex marriage is legal in 13 states and the District of Columbia.
Under a state law passed two years ago, same-sex couples can enter into civil unions and receive the same benefits and rights as those of married couples under state law but are not entitled to federal benefits.
Attorney James Hochberg, who is representing the Hawaii Family Forum, said the definition of marriage shouldn’t be made by the Legislature because it does not know what the unintended consequences are going to be.
“It should be done by the people. The people should decide,” said Hochberg, president of Hawaii Family Advocates, an arm of Hawaii Family Forum that supports traditional marriage.
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This update was written by Rosemarie Bernardo. Suggest a topic for “Whatever Happened to …” by writing Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser.com.
