LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i state lawmakers were split last year over House Bill 444, which would have extended the same rights, benefits, protections and responsibilities of spouses in a marriage to partners in a civil union. Senate Majority Leader Gary Hooser,
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i state lawmakers were split last year over House Bill 444, which would have extended the same rights, benefits, protections and responsibilities of spouses in a marriage to partners in a civil union.
Senate Majority Leader Gary Hooser, D-Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau, and Rep. Mina Morita, D-14th District, voted in favor of the bill during the 2009 session while Rep. Roland Sagum, D-16th District, and Rep. Jimmy Tokioka, D-15th District, voted against it.
The emotional debate prompted groups of concerned citizens on both sides of the fence to hold rallies at the state capitol building in Honolulu and on the streets of Kaua‘i.
