Lambda Marriage Project Director Evan Wolfson stated "this historic case has served to open a whole new chapter in our movement for equality and inclusion, and has launched an ongoing discussion about gay people and our families in a rich and powerful vocabulary of love, commitment, self-sacrifice and equality." He also said that the court:
- "-- did not overrule its 1993 decision that the denial of the freedom to marry is sex discrimination."
"-- did not disagree with Judge Chang who found that the state has no legitimate reason for excluding same-sex couples from civil marriage."
"-- did not bar a future case (or, possibly, proceedings in this case) to seek the protections, benefits, and responsibilities that come with civil marriage (the court suggests that the amendment only exempts the issuance of marriage licenses from constitutional scrutiny)."
"-- indicated that the Hawaii constitution not only prohibits sex discrimination, but also sexual orientation discrimination, strengthening our position in Hawaii to challenge the denial of the components of marriage to same-sex couples."
At the time, the only high court in the U.S. that was currently dealing with the legality of same-sex marriage was Vermont's. Another freedom to marry battle was being fought in California where State Senator Pete Knight placed the Defense of Marriage Act initiative on the March 2000 ballot.
The gay marriage controversy in Hawaii started in December 1990 when the Department of Health denied marriage licenses to three gay couples. In May 1991, these couples sued the Department for violating their rights.
This lawsuit was thrown out of court by Circuit Court Judge Robert Klein's ruling that homosexual marriage was not a fundamental right under the Hawaii state constitution. This ruling was appealed and in May 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court reinstated the lawsuit and ruled that the denial of the marriage licenses to the three couples was unconstitutional unless the state could show justification for the ban.
Circuit Court Judge Kevin Chang ruled in December 1996 that the prohibition of same-sex marriages violated the state constitution's equal protection clause, and stated that marriage licenses could not be denied on the basis of gender. Hawaiian voters passed a constitutional amendment that allows only opposite-sex couples to marry by a large margin of 285,000 votes in favor versus 127,000 against.
