Civil unions: Lambda Legal and ACLU file lawsuit against State

HONOLULU—Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii Foundation (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the State of Hawaii three weeks after Governor Linda Lingle’s veto of House Bill 444, a bill that would have allowed unmarried couples to enter civil unions with comprehensive State rights and responsibilities. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of six same-sex couples, five from Oahu and one from Hawaii Island.

“It’s tragic that something needed so badly by so many Hawaii families was derailed with a stroke of the governor’s pen,” said Jennifer C. Pizer, Lambda Legal Senior Counsel. “We had hoped we’d never have to file this lawsuit but the political process has failed the thousands of families who need the protections civil unions would have provided. Every Hawaii family should be treated equally under the law, but because the State refuses to do that, we’re forced to go to the courts.”

The complaint filed today in the Hawaii First Circuit Court argues that the State violates its own constitution by denying same-sex couples important rights and protections readily available to heterosexual couples through marriage.

Lois Perrin, Legal Director for the ACLU of Hawaii said: “Governor Lingle vetoed HB 444, thereby failing in her sworn duty to do what’s best for the state she governs. To add insult to injury, she would now put fundamental rights up for a popular vote. The Constitution and the courts exist to prevent the majority—even when spearheaded by the governor—from denying the rights of the few, which is why we filed this case.”

The lawsuit does not ask for marriage, ACLU said, only for the State to make available the full range of State law protections and duties to gay and lesbian couples, such as access to the same legal protections regarding parent-child relationships, access to family court, child support, and alimony.

In Hawaii, marriage is defined as being “only between a man and a woman.”

The current definition was set after the decade-long legal tug-of-war that occurred when three gay couples sued the Department of Health after it denied them marriage licenses in 1991. The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that the department’s actions were unconstitutional unless the State could provide justification. As a result, in 1996, Circuit Court Judge Kevin Chang’s ruled that the prohibition of same-sex marriage violated the State Constitution’s equal protection clause, which stated marriage licenses could not be denied on the basis of gender.

However, it was when Hawaii voters, in a 285,000 to 127,000 decision in 1998, managed to pass a constitutional amendment that allows only opposite-sex couples to marry that active political conversation on the issue was stalled. And in 1999, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled unanimously against same-sex marriage.

Same-sex couples in Hawaii are currently only able to enter into reciprocal beneficiary relationships with the Department of Health, which allow marriage rights granted by the State that do not pertain to family court (such as alimony, divorce, and child custody resolution) or fair access to health insurance. Reciprocal beneficiaries also do not receive any federal benefits in the same way that opposite-sex married couples do.

ACLU and Lamda Legal said current “reciprocal beneficiaries” system not only fails to provide many basic rights but also is confusing in its incompleteness and sends a harmful message that the State views same-sex couples as unworthy of the full range of rights and protections.

Jennifer C. Pizer and Tara Borelli of Lambda Legal’s Western Regional Office in Los Angeles, and Lois Perrin, Daniel Gluck, and Laurie A. Temple of the ACLU of Hawaii are co-counsel in the case.

Paul Alston, Clyde Wadsworth, and Stephen M.Tannenbaum of the law firm of Alston, Hunt, Floyd, and Ing are serving as cooperating attorneys.

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work.The ACLU of Hawaii’s mission is to protect the fundamental freedoms contained in the State and federal Constitutions through litigation and legislative and public education programs statewide.

Filing documents and more information available at www.lambdalegal.org/young-v-lingle