Hawaii's Supreme Court has siphoned the gas out of a drive to legalize gay marriage in the state, ruling Friday that a 1998 state constitutional amendment against it was the final state word on the matter. That means Vermont could be the best hope for gay couples, since Hawaii had been seen as the most likely shot at it.
Opponents of gay marriage applauded the Hawaii Supreme Court ruling, while Vermont's Supreme Court is expected to rule shortly on a case filed by three gay couples.
"We have such wimps in our judicial system," says Joseph Mellilo to the Associated Press. He wants to marry his partner of 23 years. They were one of three couples who sued Hawaii in 1990. Other same-sex marriage advocates tell the AP the issue will not quite go away.
"This is still a national civil rights movement and no one victory and no one defeat is going to end our advance on equality,'' says New York-based Evan Wolfson of the Lambda Legal Defense Fund to the AP. ``The public continues to discuss and get used to the idea of gay people marrying. No doubt we will win the freedom to marry. The only question is when.''
Hawaii's Supreme Court had ruled in 1993 that failing to recognize gay marriages amounted to gender discrimination, launching pre-emptive legislation around the U.S. Thirty states banned gay marriage, and Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act, denying federal sanction for gay marriage and letting states ignore gay marriages sanctioned elsewhere.
Hawaii voters approved the no-gay-marriage amendment in 1998, although other domestic partnership rights the court let stand in 1993 still stand. That won't impact upon the Vermont case, the AP says.
