Date: Wed, 24 May 95 10:26:37 HST

	KRON-TV SAN FRANCISCO HAS GREAT COVERAGE;
	 MS. MAGAZINE REVIEWS SAME-SEX MARRIAGE  

	KRON-TV in San Francisco devoted 10 minutes of the
Monday night 6pm news to the BAEHR V. LEWIN case.  The coverage
was reported to me as being excellent:  footage of Supreme Court
Justice Burns quizzing Deputy Attorney General Sonia Faust on
the discrimination against same-sex couples; footage of HERMP lawyer
Dan Foley outlining the fairness and equal protection issue,
footage of one of the three plaintiff couples (Pat Lagon and Joe
Melilo).  KRON's coverage continued Tuesday night, will continue
tonight; I've not heard a report of Tuesday's coverage.

	KRON is preparing a major documentary.

	I'd like to thank those who emailed me the San Francisco
Chronicle front-page article on BAEHR V. LEWIN.  I've now seen the
4-color photo of plaintiffs Ninia Baehr and Genora Dancel---great
photograph!  The opening line, the mundane issue of naming life
insurance benefits, set a very practical tone.  Great writing!

	Ms. magazine of May/June 1995 has a six-page article with
title ``Is Marriage The Answer?'', pages 86---91.  The photographs
include Pat and Joe (caption:  Patrick Lagon (left) and Joe Melilo
are among three same-sex couples suing the state of Hawaii for the
right to marry.), Ninia and Genora (caption:  Genora Dancel (left)
and Ninia Baehr want to marry for personal reasons, but their
challenge to Hawaii's marriage laws will have political fallout.),
couples marrying at the 1993 march on Washington and an Austin,
Texas couple registering as domestic partners.  The large print
``set-asides'' are the following:

		Is Marriage The Answer?
		Domestic Partnership Activists Don't Think So
		by Barbara Findlen, executive editor of Ms.
		
		Advocates for domestic partnership argue that
		no rights or benefits should be based on marriage.

		Feminists have long criticized marriage as a place
		of oppression, danger and drudgery for women.

		Hawaii passed a law that explicitly defines
		marriage as being between a man and a woman.

	The body of the article is quite informative:  it details
the numerous, and different, domestic partnership rights available
in some cities and from some employers.  It also outlines the diverse
principles of domestic partnership advocates, and it recognizes the
bottom line:  ``But domestic partnerships don't hold a candle to
the entitlements that come with marriage'', which include 
``the right to joint parenting, through birth and adoption;
the right to file joint income tax returns; legal immigration and
residency for partners from other countries; benefits such as
annuities, pensions and Social Security for surviving partners;
immunity from having to testify in court against a spouse.'' [p. 89-90]
The article ends with a quote from NGLTF's (executive director)
Melinda Paras:  ``I think that we will end up with marriage and
domestic partnership as simultaneously existing legal constructs.
Marriage is a huge battle that will mostly be lost for a long time.
In the meantime, domestic partnership practices are expanding
and will become a much larger body of law and policy.  By the
time equality gets won universally, we'll be in a whole other place
about the definition of family, and gay marriage may become
almost irrelevant.''

	In Hawaii, going for same-sex marriage may well bring domestic
partnership rights:  the legislature is definitely trying to screw up
its courage to pass domestic partnership legislation.  So far, they
can't or won't, because ANY affirmative action towards gays and lesbians
draws a fierce attack from the Radical Right.  It's easier to do
nothing and let the courts take the blame.  However, the court case
to obtain marriage is forcing the legislature to face the issue AND
MAKES DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP THE MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD COMPROMISE.  For
those of us who followed California's efforts to pass a very humane,
and minimalist, DP statute last year (with the combined forces of
the elderly and GLBT communities)---only to have Wilson veto it---
having DP be the compromise position is already a major step forward.

	The current governor of Hawaii, Ben Cayetano, campaigned
on a platform last fall which called for ALL marriages being made
into domestic partnerships in the law and leaving the word marriage
to the private use of churches.  This is a radical, and welcome,
position of full equality between same-sex and opposite-sex couples---
and entirely due to Ben (and not a platform committee).  BUT, in
private, Cayetano has made clear that he will act on his
ideas ONLY AFTER SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IS CREATED BY THE COURTS.

	So, HERMP is in the courts---fighting for full equality.
And the Mormons are trying their damndest to be there against us.


				Best Regards,


				Tom Ramsey
				Secretary, Steering Committee
				Hawaii Equal Rights Marriage Project
	
P.S.  Donations to HERMP are needed, no matter how small.  They are
fully tax-deductible and should be sent to HERMP/GLCC, 1820 University
Ave., Honolulu, HI 96822 [telephone 808/942-3737; fax 926-1000; main
GLCC number 951-7000.]


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