Date: Wed, 6 Mar 96 09:12:40 HST
From: ramsey@math.hawaii.edu (Tom Ramsey)
Subject: Hawaii MAR 6

		HAWAII HOUSE AND SENATE BILLS CROSSOVER

	Tuesday, March 5, Hawaii's Senate approved a domestic partnership
bill by a vote of 14 to 11.  On the other hand, Hawaii's House approved
a constitutional amendment to ban same-gender marriage, by a vote of
38 to 14.  The 38 to 14 vote meets the 2/3 needed, if likewise passed
in the Senate, to put the constitutional amendment before the voters in
November.  Now, each bill crosses over to the other house for further
consideration.

	The 38 to 14 vote was much better than the 41 to 6 vote which
occurred the previous Friday, but not enough to block the 2/3 vote
the majority needed.  HERMP volunteers telephoned, wrote and visited
legislators over the weekend.

	Rep. Jim Shon raised a major FEDERAL constitutional problem with
the proposed amendment, in that the amendment does not distinguish between
private church practice (some churches celebrate same-gender marriages)
and civil marriage.  The objection seemed only to annoy Terrance Tom
(Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, who said many times over three
years that he would not vote for a constitutional amendment, but is
a proponent of it).  Terrance Tom's response on the House floor to
Jim Shon seemed like a tantrum (of the I-don't-want-listen-to-this variety).
The TV footage is memorable.

	One of the more awful reports, but widely believed, is that
some of our "supportive" legislators sold out to preserve a controversial
retirement plan for state lawmakers.  One source for this story is 
Rep. Cynthia Thielen of Kailua (Republican), who has been reporting it
to her constituents.  Cynthia is of course telling stories out of school
on the behavior of Democratic colleagues.  Which doesn't make the stories
false.


					Tom Ramsey
					Co-Coordinator
					Hawaii Equal Rights Marriage
					Project

P.S.  Web sites for HERMP information:
For the official report of the Commission on Sexual Orientation and
the Law:
http://www.hawaii.gov/lrb/solcvr.html
For national as well as Hawaii information:
http://nether.net/~rod/html/sub/marriage.html
http://www.well.com/user/davadam/hermp.html


      The Hawaii Equal Rights Marriage Project, HERMP, is the sole support
of the work of Dan Foley on Baehr v. Lewin (Foley is the attorney who makes
all court appearances on behalf of the plaintiff couples).  Please be generous
in support of HERMP; Hawaii is a small state, and the tiny gay and lesbian
community here is very active in advocacy work which HERMP cannot address.
Donations to HERMP are fully tax-deductible, and should be made out to
                     GLCC-HERMP
                     1521 Alexander Street, #503
                     Honolulu, HI 96822.
 
      The HERMP branch in Kona, on the Big Island, has produced a T-shirt
for sale.  One can send a check for $17.50 to HERMP, P.O.Box 902, Captain
Cook, HI 96704, together with a note about being sent a T-shirt (S, M, L,
XL, XXL).  It is also available in a tank top.  The design is multi-color
on white.  A large triangle points down, with the letters h.e.r.m.p above
the triangle, some male-male, female-female symbols in the border of the
triangle and some palm trees.  To place an email order for T-shirts, or
to obtain more information, please email skippero@aol.com.  An image of
the T-shirt is available via the WEB on
       http://www.qrd.org/QRD/www/usa/maine/hawaii-tee.html