Gays in Hawaii were hopeful that, after half a decade of being part of the United States, they would join jurisdictions like New Jersey and become a “second-tier” gay marriage state, with legislators finally passing a civil unions law. Those hopes were shattered yesterday: After the Senate voted for the measure, lawmakers in the house decided to pass.
The bill was tabled indefinitely in the State House; last year, the House managed a vote with 33 of 51 votes in favor.
Why the delay? Elections, say activist on the ground. Legislators don’t want to have a scarlet letter on their record as they hope to win their jobs back for another season.
Sad day, kids. Sad day.
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PADude
Given the dominance of Democraps (misspelling intentional) in the HI House and Senate, I’m thinking that’s going to bite them on the butt on election day.
If they don’t support us, why should we support them?
In other news, cancel your Hawaiian vacation (if you have one) and tell them why. Folks tend to notice when you hit them in the pocketbook. Don’t buy Hawaiian exports (pineapple, some tropical oils, macadamia nuts).
Daniel
Hawaiians didn’t even uphold their own constitution; they simply changed it by mob rule when the time came to actually having to live up to the basic fundamentals of democracy like Equal Protection under Law. If you think they’ll actually uphold human rights, there is plenty of swampland folks would like to sell you. Hawaiians have proven beyond a shadow of all doubt they will violate the human rights of hundreds of millions of human beings. Only gullible people think otherwise. Hawaii’s democracy died 15 years ago and it ain’t ever coming back. It’s not the first democracy to die and won’t be the last. Any historian will tell you that.
jason
Does this really surprise? Democrats in New York and New Jersey have already voted against gay marriage. Hawaii was just a natural progression for them.
Face it – the Democrats are cowards. They are frauds and cowards. Don’t vote for them at the next election. Vote for a moderate Republican or an independent.
scott ny'er
@jason: Wait. So you think that the moderate Republican or Independent will do more for our causes than the Democrat?
I’m not an expert on politics, far from it. So, I wonder has there been proof of moderate Republicans or Independents supporting our causes when compared to Democrats, in the past?
Brian NYC
There is NO political solution to LGBT Equality. It is a waste of time and money.
tjr101
@jason: “moderate Republican.” There is no such thing as a moderate Republican, very funny though!
rainfish2000
You don’t have to be the butt-boys for the gutless Democrats, and you don’t have to run into the Republican lion’s mouth like frightened rabbits either. So many people are sick to death of both the Democrats and the Republicans; they are repulsed by both party’s sense of entitlement over absolute political control of these un-United States.
If we could manage legitimate multi-party races (true representational democracy) then we might actually have a chance of electing third party candidates, fourth party candidates, or whatever fucking party that does not start with that goddamn “D” or an “R”. We need to get behind true progressive (aka Liberal) independent candidates and support them.
Just ten percent of the House and the Senate in progressive Third Party (Green Party, etc.) or progressive Independent hands could tip the scales of power in our favor. Both big “D” and “R” parties would have to suck up to them or they would lose control of the Senate and/or House if their respective numbers were close to equal in both parties. Hell, just look how ol’ Joe (Independent) Lieberman practically ran the Senate, even with a near super majority of Democrats in the Senate! One person! Imagine at least ten or more progressive independents in the Senate and forty or fifty in the House. A total game changer.
Imagine what ten percent of progressive independents and/or Third Party representatives could do to break the gridlock and to force votes on “controversial” issues of fairness and equality — or threaten to switch control of the House or Senate back to whatever party supported their causes. They would be very formidable power-brokers with lots of clout.
The current systems isn’t working. It’s time to try something new. You know what they say: The definition of insanity is someone who keeps repeating the same act over and over — oblivious to the fact that the anticipated result will never occur. This endless psychotic episode is exactly what the GLBT community is trapped in by their own fears, and by blindly putting their fate into the despicable hands of exploiters and liars in the current two party system.
Time to change. If they wont, we must! You have no reason to hope for a better outcome, if you don’t insist on it. Stop plowing a dead field; move on to a more productive one. Stop being fools.
Radical change is needed. The inertia in the current Washington two party (good cop/bad cop) system will never free us from discrimination — both parties depend upon us; both exploit our fears, or the fear of us, to garner both funds and votes for them. Beyond that, they are also too bogged down with the enormous weight of their own self-importance and self-interest. They’re both part of a political cartel that must be broken up if this country is to survive.
If enough of us understand that, then viable independent and third party candidates can win and they could make a difference in all of our lives. Nothing else is working. This should have been our first solution, not our last alternative.