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Newsbreak: Hawaii ruling (3)
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JUDGE DELAYS GAY-MARRIAGE RULING
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Copyright © 1996 Nando.net
Copyright © 1996 The Associated Press
HONOLULU (Dec 4, 1996 5:42 p.m. EST) -- The judge who declared Hawaii
must allow gay marriages put the ruling on hold today while the state
appeals.
Circuit Judge Kevin Chang agreed with attorneys for the state that
Hawaii would have a dilemma if couples were allowed to marry and
Hawaii's Supreme Court then overturned his ruling.
The stay will remain in effect until the high court rules, meaning gay
couples won't be able to marry in Hawaii for at least a year, if at
all.
"If hundreds, or even thousands, of gay marriages take place, the
Supreme Court probably won't even hear the appeal," Deputy Attorney
General Rick Eichor said in arguing for the stay.
Eichor also argued that the three gay couples who sued for the right
to marry would suffer no real harm if their right to marry were
delayed.
Dan Foley, a civil liberties attorney who represented the couples,
said he found that argument incredulous. He said his clients already
had suffered from delays in the case.
Foley said the state had demonstrated no irreparable harm in not
granting a stay.
Eichor said he will file an appeal within 30 days.
That will send the case back to the Supreme Court, which in 1993 ruled
that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional unless
the state can show a compelling interest in continuing it.
Eichor has argued that the state's marriage law is intended to promote
the best environment for the procreation and rearing of children.
Eichor said children fare best when raised by their biological
parents.
President Clinton signed a law in September that says the federal
government will not recognize gay marriages and allows states to
refuse to recognize such unions licensed in other states.
But if the Hawaii ruling is upheld, gay activists will try to build
upon the success and overturn the federal law, said David Smith,
spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group based in
Washington.
"A major bridge has been crossed, but the battle will continue," he
said.
Sixteen states have passed laws against gay marriages and two states
have executive orders in place forbidding them, Smith said.
Some gays sought to take immediate advantage of the ruling: David
Dudley and Edward Koh, tourists from Boston, requested a marriage
license Tuesday from the state Health Department. They were denied.
Joe Melillo, who sued the state with Pat Lagon, his partner of 19
years, also planned to get married.
"We are glad he could see that this discrimination has to be ended,"
Melillo said. "As soon as we can we'll get our license and be married
-- today or tomorrow maybe. But we'll have to see how the state will
play their hand."
The American Center for Law and Justice, which represented eight state
legislators who unsuccessfully sought to intervene in the case, called
the ruling an outrage.
"We're extremely disappointed that Hawaii chose to unravel a
6,000-year-old institution of marriage consisting of a man and a
woman," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the Virginia
Beach-Va.-based group.
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