Hawaii's Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed a bill legalizing gay marriage in the state just one day after the Senate passed the legislation during a special session. Same-sex weddings will begin in the Aloha State beginning Dec. 2.
This makes Hawaii the 15th state to legalize gay marriage. Illinois passed similar legislation last week, but its governor won’t sign it into law until Nov. 20.
A Hawaiian lesbian legislator made headlines during the state's gay marriage debate. Rep. Jo Jordan became the first openly gay lawmaker in the country to vote against marriage equality.
Though she’s been blasted by the LGBT community, Jordan stands behind her reasoning. She opposed the legislation because she doesn’t think it provides adequate religious protections and calls the bill’s religious exemptions “too narrow.”
I’m not here to protect the big churches or the little churches, I’m saying we can’t erode what’s currently out there. We don’t want to scratch at the religious protections at all, because if we don’t create a measure that’s bulletproof, or as close to bulletproof as possible, then the measure will go to the courts. And they will interpret it however that may be. A judge will make assumptions and make a ruling, and that will become the law of the land. So you really want us to create the legislation.
More LGBT news
• The Florida Supreme Court ruled that a woman who donated an egg to her former lesbian partner has parental rights. The court’s 4-3 ruling directed a lower court to work out custody, child support and visitation arrangements for the two women and their 9-year-old daughter. The court also ruled that a reproductive-technology law protecting only heterosexual couples is unconstitutional.
The majority opinion reads:
We conclude that the state would be hard pressed to find a reason why a child would not be better off having two loving parents in her life, regardless of whether those parents are of the same sex, than she would by having only one parent.
The Brevard County couple decided to have a child while they were still together nearly a decade ago. One woman donated the egg that was fertilized and implanted in the other. The girl was born in 2004 and the couple split up two years later. The birth mother then took their daughter and left the country without the consent of her former partner, but she was eventually tracked down by a private detective.
During the ensuing custody battle, the birth mother tried to use a Florida law that prevents sperm or egg donors from having parental rights to children born to other couples.
• A Massachusetts teen is trying to get Apple to change a derogatory definition of the word “gay” in its dictionary app.
There’s nothing shocking about the app’s first two definitions of “gay” — “homosexual” and “lighthearted and carefree.” The third, informal definition, however defines “gay” as “foolish; stupid.”
Apple has long been considered a supporter of LGBT rights and equality, both in the workplace and out. And the company’s CEO Tim Cook topped “Out” magazine’s Power 50 list for the third straight year, though he’s never publicly acknowledged his sexuality.
This article appears in Nov 14-20, 2013.