The debate on Hawaii’s gay marriage bill spilled into the state Capitol courtyard Wednesday, where several hundred passionate demonstrators tensely squared off as House members drew closer to a final vote on the measure.
For more than five hours, dozens of bill opponents loudly and repeatedly chanted "Let me vote!" and "Kill the bill!" just outside the House chamber while lawmakers deliberated proposed changes to the measure.
The persistent chant reached a fever pitch whenever a door to the chamber opened.
"We don’t believe that this special session should have been called in the first place," said Robyn Gomes, one person in a group of 20 or so Nanakuli neighbors and Hope Chapel congregants who have kept a regular vigil at the Capitol to protest the bill since the legislative session began last week.
"We didn’t have ample time to react on it," Gomes said. "The process was wrong."
While same-sex marriage opponents were by far more vocal Wednesday, the bill’s supporters also made their presence felt. Many stood just off to the side of the chamber window, displaying signs supporting marriage equality.
Eventually, some bill supporters blended in with the opponents in front of the House chamber window, where all the demonstrators then jockeyed — and sometimes shoved — for the limited space to display signs. Deputy state sheriffs occasionally stepped in to tell the crowd to stay calm.
Hawaiian, rainbow and American flags waved as rain lightly poured into the courtyard.
The scene was tense but mostly peaceful. However, a confrontation took place about 12:30 p.m., when a news conference held by 40 Christian pastors was abruptly overrun by a group of bill opponents.
The pastors said they had gathered in partnership with Hawaii United for Marriage to show legislators that not all religious leaders are against gays acquiring a legal right to marry in Hawaii despite the avalanche of testimony against a marriage equality bill in a House hearing, according to the Rev. Jonipher Kupono Kwong, spokesman.
Kwong, pastor of the First Unitarian Church of Honolulu, said his group wanted to influence lawmakers who were still "sitting on the fence" or undecided about marriage equality.
Protesters carrying a Hawaii Family Advocates banner and four Hawaiian flags interrupted the meeting by clapping and chanting with bullhorns, "Let the people vote!"
The clergy and about 60 supporters countered by linking arms and singing "Amazing Grace."
Episcopal Rev. Walter Brownridge, dean of the Cathedral of St. Andrew, was about to take the microphone when bill opponents circled his group and a few pushed their way to the podium, trying to shout down the speakers.
Brownridge said, "I thought, ‘I’m not going to try to talk over them. I’ll just sing until they wear out.’ And they did. They walked away. I was surprised that it would be that … It got a little ugly."
Some House members ventured outside during session recesses. At one point Rep. Richard Fale (R, Waialua-Kahuku-Waiahole) used a bullhorn to tell gay marriage opponents that many of his fellow lawmakers were doing "everything they can to stop the people from having a voice."
"Don’t let that happen," he said, to cheers.
Davina Sanders, a stay- at-home mother, said she missed her Tahitian drumming class at Brigham Young University-Hawaii on Wednesday to protest the same-sex marriage bill. Sanders instead brought her traditional Tahitian drum sticks to the event, which she used to accompany the chants for hours.
Mezghan Azimi, a Kaimuki resident, headed to the Capitol after work to join supporters of the gay marriage bill. She’s been making the trip since the session started, Azimi said.
Sanders and Azimi both said they would stay "as long as it takes" to get lawmakers to hear their point of view.
Hawaii Kai resident Donna Gedge said that she and her partner, Monica Montgomery, had waited in line more than four hours Wednesday to enter the House chambers. The proceedings there would have a major effect on the couple’s future.
"We’ve been together for 35 years and we’ve been waiting a long time," Gedge explained just as the chamber door opened, and the "Let me vote!" chant from same-sex marriage opponents next to her reached another crescendo. "I’m waiting to get married."
Eventually, Gedge and Montgomery were allowed inside the chamber.
