Hawaii voters asked to ensure protection of same-sex marriage

In November 1998, Hawaii adopted a constitutional amendment giving the Legislature the power to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples after it received a clear majority in the election.

Twenty-six years later, voters will have an opportunity to reverse that decision, which has already been made irrelevant — at least for now — by a U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationally.

In the Nov. 5 general election, a new ballot measure will ask: “Shall the state constitution be amended to repeal the legislature’s authority to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples?”

The proposal comes as the island state has developed a reputation as a leader in the legal effort toward marriage equality.

Same-sex marriage was legalized statutorily in Hawaii two years before the 2015 Supreme Court ruling. But the state constitution still has wording granting lawmakers “the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples.”

Supporters say passage of the new constitutional amendment would remove discriminatory language from the constitution and make it crystal clear that Hawaii supports equal rights.

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