Challenging Linda Lingle's Legacy of Homophobia

In just a few hours, six lesbian and gay couples in the state of Hawaii will take their push for equality into Hawaii's courts, challenging the state for not legally recognizing the rights of same-sex couples. They're not calling for same-sex marriage (which Hawaii constitutionally banned in 1998), and they're not calling for civil unions per se (which Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed three weeks ago, because she was worried civil unions would be a slippery slope toward the apocalypse).

But they are calling for Hawaii to get in line with their state constitution, which prohibits sex discrimination, and provide gay and lesbian couples some measure of equal benefits under the law.

"This case is not about marriage. It's about the right of same-sex couples to at least have a system that is understandable and complete," said Jennifer Pizer, a senior attorney with Lambda Legal, the group representing these six couples. "The state's equality guarantee at least has to mean same-sex couples should have the same rights and responsibilities, even if it's segmented off into a system that isn't as respected, understood and revered as marriage."

Yes, there's a certain sense of tragedy that gay folks have to file a lawsuit in order to still be treated as less than, at least when compared to heterosexual married couples in Hawaii. But despite the circumstances surrounding this lawsuit, it's still an important step to advance equality in the Aloha state.

The lawsuit is in every way a direct challenge to Gov. Linda Lingle's veto of a civil unions law which would have given gay and lesbian couples in Hawaii many of the same legal benefits as straight couples. But three weeks ago, during a press conference where Gov. Lingle invited members of the LGBT community, she told them that civil unions were a step too far. And then the next day, she went and compared gay marriage to incest.

"For those people who want to makes this into a civil rights issue, and of course those in favor [civil unions], 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," Gov. Lingle said. "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."

The ironic thing in Lingle's soliloquy is that Hawaii does allow first cousins to marry. Good thing the governor knows the laws of her state ...

The case of these six gay couples now rests in the hands of the Hawaii court system, most likely ending up before the Hawaii State Supreme Court. The only thing that could potentially stop it from reaching there? If Linda Lingle's successor (she's term limited) is a candidate (like, say, Neil Abercrombie) who supports civil unions for gays and lesbians, and doesn't sell Hawaii's gay and lesbian constituents out if a bill recognizing them reaches his desk.

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