Verbatim: Lingle says gay marriage not a civil rights issue

One day after Gov. Linda Lingle’s decision to veto Hawaii’s civil unions bill, she appeared on a talk radio program by Rick Hamada on KHVH 830 AM to address concerns and answer question. One talking point by Lingle that had the web riled up this weekend was:

“For those people who want to make this into a civil rights issue, and of course those in favor of the bill, they see it as a civil rights issue. And I understand them drawing that conclusion. But people on the other side would point out, well, we don’t allow other people to marry even — it’s not a civil right for them. First cousins couldn’t marry, or a brother and a sister and that sort of thing. So there are restrictions, not to put it in the exact same category. But the bottom line is, it really can’t be a civil right if we are restricting it in other cases, and it’s been found to be legal in those other cases, that the restrictions [are constitutional].”

Listen to the entire KHVH interview at http://www.khvh830am.com/pages/rickPersonality.html.