alani
Apr 29, 2009
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Aloha, there is a final opportunity to potentially pass this bill this session. The Family Equality Coalition has found a little-known procedural rule that allows the voting public to directly petition the Senate Committee Chair to pull the bill out of committee for a full floor vote by the Senate. If you are in favor of this bill passing, please go to http://eqfed.org/campaign/cupetition and sign the petition. Your name and information must be received by 4/30 at 1 pm. You can also download the petition and collect signatures and then fax that in as well. Mahalo no, Alani

Karen
Mar 25, 2009
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I'm very disappointed with today's senate vote. I have seen in my own family and circle of close friends many times over the pain and shame that anti-gay discrimination causes. One friend almost killed himself during his senior year of high school, not wanting to disappoint his parents by coming out. Some call homosexuality a 'deviant lifestyle choice,' but I personally can't see how anyone would choose to live a life such that a declaration of who you want to commit your life to is met with slurs, condemnations, and angry demonstrations. I hope, and truly believe, that this issue will be resolved within our lifetime, or better still, within our generation. I still think my letters and calls to legislators made a difference; it's all part of the process.

Echoing the other posters here... a compassionate community starts with respecting differences and affording basic equality to all.

Aito Simps
Mar 25, 2009
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I totally agree with Olin's well thought out and soberly stated opinion. I find it hard to swallow that our family, friends and neighbors do not have the same rights and protections under law that my wife and I are free to take for granted.
I believe that civil unions are a step toward recognizing the rights of all citizens and does not denigrate the rights or quality of life of others. In that way I feel I must embrace the move toward civil unions as it is an extension of equal rights for all.
Thank you Olin for your simple and eloquent statement.

Olin
Mar 21, 2009
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I watched a bunch of testimony for HB444 and it seems to me that we could be divided on this issue for generations to come. Personally, I don't frame the civil union issue in terms of right or wrong. I don't think we as a community could ever agree on the same answer. Rather I believe the issue should be whether we can withhold civil liberties from gay couples. I don't think we should. Our country was founded on the belief that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." I can't imagine a greater pursuit of happiness than to mature in a relationship with the person you love. I can't support in good conscious a measure that lays out unequal civil rights, regardless of how right or wrong civil unions are in my own personal beliefs.