Date: Mon, 5 Aug 96 06:33:40 HST
From: ramsey@math.hawaii.edu (Tom Ramsey)
Subject: HAWAII AUG. 5

		COURT TV TO BROADCAST BAEHR V. MIIKE

	The September 10 Circuit Court trial will be broadcast by
Court TV; CNN may also carry the broadcast.  The trial will take
about two weeks, roughly 8:30 am to 3:00 pm each day, with recesses
on the hour and a break for lunch.  The recesses are needed to provide
transcripts to the news media.

	The theme of the trial is controlled by the state, which has the
burden of proof:  what exactly are its compelling state interests in
continuing to discriminate against same-gender couples by denying them
the right to civil marriage?  The state will focus on child-rearing.
The first five or six days will be the state's witnesses, and then will
come the plaintiff's witnesses.

	The attorneys for the plaintiffs with be Dan Foley and Evan
Wolfson.  Dan Foley is the Hawaii-based civil rights lawyer who has been
with the case since its beginning in 1991; he's heterosexual, happily
married with two children.  In Foley's case load this season is also a
lawsuit on behalf of mayoral candidate Arnold Morgado, challenging some
aspects of Hawaii's campaign spending laws as violations of free speech.

	Evan Wolfson is on the national staff of Lambda Legal Defense and
Education Fund, a gay man who understood early the central role of marriage
in obtaining civil rights for same-gender couples.  Besides assigning
Evan full-time to preparing the U.S. for Baehr v. Miike for the past
several years, LLDEF has recently picked up the large costs of deposing
the expert witnesses of the case (exclusive of Dan Foley's fees, which
are covered by h.e.r.m.p).

	Kirk Cashmere, a Honolulu attorney with extensive civil rights
experience, is co-counsel with Dan and Evan.


					Best Regards,

					Tom Ramsey
					Hawaii Equal Rights Marriage Project

BAEHR V. MIIKE (formerly Baehr v. Lewin):  This is the lawsuit by 3
same-gender couples, two female and one male, to obtain marriage licenses
in Hawaii.  In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that denial of such
licenses was sex discrimination (which is prohibited by Hawaii's Constitution)
AND that sex discrimination was subject to the same legal standards as
race, ethnic or religious discrimination.  Thus, to continue the discrimination
the state must have a "compelling state interest".  No one is quite sure
what that could be; the Hawaii Supreme Court sent the case back to the Honolulu
Circuit to find out.
    BAEHR stands for Ninia Baehr, the first of the six plaintiffs in
alphabetical order:  Ninia Baehr, Genora Dancel, Pat Lagon, Joe Melillo and
two others.  MIIKE refers to the current head of the Hawaii Department of
Health (which issues marriage licenses).

Web sites for h.e.r.m.p information:
http://www.xq.com/hermp/
http://www.qrd.org/qrd/orgs/hermp/
http://www.tnight.com/hermp/
http://www.qrd.org/qrd/usa/hawaii/marriage.update/
The latter is provided by a BBS, which also provides BBS access
to h.e.r.m.p messages: Tropical Night BBS (808) 235-5558
telnet:bbs.tnight.com

For the official report of the Commission on Sexual Orientation and
the Law:
http://www.hawaii.gov/lrb/solcvr.html

For legal documents related to Baehr v. Lewin (now Baehr v. Miike):
http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/legal/
which has a link to marriage and Baehr v. Lewin
 
For national as well as Hawaii information:
http://nether.net/~rod/html/sub/marriage.html
http://www.well.com/user/davadam/hermp.html
http://www.eskimo.com/~demian/partners.html

      The Hawaii Equal Rights Marriage Project, h.e.r.m.p, is the sole support
of the work of Dan Foley on Baehr v. Miike.   Please be generous in support of
h.e.r.m.p; Hawaii is a small state!  Donations to h.e.r.m.p are fully
tax-deductible, and should be made out to
                     GLCC-HERMP
                     1521 Alexander Street, #503
                     Honolulu, HI 96822.
 
      The h.e.r.m.p 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