Sometime between now and July 6, you will make your final decision on HB444, the civil-unions bill. This will be the last issue of the Weekly published before you decide, and we struggled with how to be of the best possible service to our readers and to Hawaii this week. As you know better than anyone, so much has been written about this issue, every angle covered, every ramification–and then some–explored. At long last, this struggle has come down to a single person, and we appreciate the unique responsibility that now befalls you.

You have spoken candidly about your painstaking process with this decision. You have said that you have been pulled in different directions, and indeed that you have not yet made up your mind. Guided as we are by our conviction that equality under the law is the foundation of civil and human rights, we are convinced that your decision will be the single most important political development of the year.

And so we have prepared this week’s cover story for an audience of one: We have created it for you. What follows is a small sampling of the many, many letters we have received over the past 18 months from people who are excluded from rights the rest of us enjoy, from their families and from people who have been moved by their struggle, and by their hope. Over the past two years, letters to us calling for the passage of civil-unions legislation have outnumbered those about every other subject by a wide margin.

We understand that these letters do not represent the totality of opinion in Hawaii. We do know that they represent the voice of a long-persecuted people, yearning to breathe free.

We offer these voices with aloha, and with sincere respect for how difficult this decision has been for you. And we offer them in the hope that–pleading, insistent, defiant and hopeful as they are–they may help persuade you that this is not a religious question, but a matter of basic fairness, equality and freedom.

Aloha,
The editors

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We the people

Those who feel justified in using their religion as a reason to treat some families in our diverse society as less than equal should be reminded that this country was founded on the equality of all people, as described in our Constitution.

Kimo Stowell
Honolulu

Let us be

Those of us who are in committed relationships deserve the same rights as others. We are active members of the community. Let us live like the normal human beings we are.

Robert Zimmer
Honolulu

Right and wrong

Beware of those who urge intolerance and inequality in the name of religion. They told us God created inferior races and wanted racial segregation. They were wrong. They told us women should stay in our homes, submit to our husbands and be silent in our churches. They were wrong. Now they tell us homosexuality is wrong and that gays and lesbians do not deserve equality or respect. They are wrong again. Intolerance and inequality have no place in our society.

Gov. Lingle, sign HB444. Each of our citizens deserves the rights associated with a loving, committed relationship. How can that be wrong.

Ellen Godbey Carson
Honolulu

A duty to protect

Gov. Lingle, please do not allow the persistently expressed religious superstitions of certain groups to dissuade you from performing the government’s duty of providing equal rights to minorities and protecting them from the tyranny of the majority.

David Jackson
Honolulu

Beggars and choosers

The LGBT community is a community of human beings who live, dream, bleed and die just like everyone else. They pay taxes, get speeding tickets and fall in love just the same as any person under the sun. So why should those very same people, who are just as human as everyone else, be treated as less than such?

A stranger told one of my closest friends, “I am against your kind more than I am about two men,” right after asking her for money. That’s the most ridiculous double standard I’ve ever heard! Bless my friend’s heart though because she still gave him the money he begged for, with a smile to hide her broken heart. I sat at a table nearby and saw the whole thing. It pained me to see such a good person be treated so terribly just for being herself.

Governor Lingle, be a beacon of true aloha in the Aloha State. Support the civil-unions bill and make a stand against prejudice and bigotry disguised as moral integrity.

Cyrus Naone
Mililani

Equality means everyone

Equality is a non-negotiable. This is a movement, and as part of elected officials’ legacies, do they want to have stood in the way of humanity?

Derin Derego
Chinatown

No stranger to discrimination

My partner and I have been together for over 11 years. We are both students on Oahu but still have the home we built by ourselves on the Big Island. We would like to know that if something were to happen to one or both of us that all of our hard work would not be lost.

I don’t wish to challenge marriage but those who try to block HB444 block establishment of equal protections for same-gender partners in all areas: property, taxes, health care, family leave and adoption, to name a few areas where my partner is little more than a stranger to me as far as the law is concerned.

Eric Barker
Honolulu

For the greater good

All families in Hawaii deserve the equal dignity and respect that civil unions offer. It is the duty of the government to pass HB444 in 2010. The bias, prejudice and intolerance of a few misguided citizens/churches should not be a detriment any longer.

Patricia Blair
Kailua

Rainbow state

By Passing HB444, we not only send a message of tolerance, equality and understanding for all people, we send a message that Hawaii openly welcomes all people.

The disposable income and spending power of gay Americans (and gay citizens worldwide), is a highly attractive demographic.

I have no doubt that gay couples and families from all over the world would come to Hawaii and gladly spend money on weddings, receptions, hotels, restaurants, car rentals, tours and shopping if the real Aloha Rainbow carpet is rolled out.

Michael Thornton
Honolulu

Validity at stake

The question of civil unions is not one of love vs. bigotry–though they are present on both sides. It is one of honesty and integrity. A citizen is a citizen. You cannot create or maintain different levels of citizenship. People who pray to God using another name; people who come from a different group of Pacific islands; people whose love appears different; people who can afford no roof but the sky–these are not non-citizens, nor even second-class citizens.

They have the same right to be equally represented by their government–or that government is not valid.

Tom Luna
Honolulu

Civil wrongs

Over half a century ago, Executive Order 9066 snatched Americans of Japanese ancestry from their homes, livelihoods and dignity. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the incarceration in Korematsu v. United States, noting, “We are not unmindful of the hardships imposed by it upon a large group of American citizens.”

The Court did not address the real injury. The Court relied on law and procedure to sanction hate and fear. Justice was denied.

Sadly, our 25th Legislature did not address the real issue when it failed to pass HB444. The Legislature invoked politics and procedure to sanction hate and fear. What is even worse is that they did so anonymously.

Even with the lessons learned from the Japanese American Internment during World War II, our Legislature chose to hide behind politics where they should have boldly stood strong to make sure that justice is never denied a group because of who they are.

Our representatives had an opportunity to validate equality, but they chose to be silent as the moment passed them by.

Shawn L.M. Benton
President Japanese American Citizens League
Honolulu Chapter

And not yet at home

The legalization of gay marriage in Washington, D.C., makes me feel both happy and sad. I am happy that some of my friends can become legally married in D.C. Being a heterosexual, I didn’t face any obstacles to my marriage. Three days after moving back to Hawaii, I filed the paperwork and a justice of the peace performed the ceremony.

My husband and I decided to get married because we loved each other. But marriage also gave me rights as a military dependent. I was given full medical coverage the next day and we were able to file for base housing.I am saddened that my gay friends cannot do what I did so easily. House Bill 444 is not same-sex marriage. It’s about justice for all. Why is this so hard to comprehend? I’ve always felt proud of Hawaii and its culture of acceptance. States that are far less liberal than we are have passed same-sex marriage laws and we can’t even vote on civil unions?

I hope that more people will urge their legislators to vote on HB444. We owe it to ourselves as a matter of integrity and to the gay members of this community as a matter of justice.

Kerry Welch
Honolulu

A question of service

I serve the Community Church of Honolulu, although I write this letter not representing the church I serve, but as my personal opinion. I do not believe the State of Hawaii or any political body has the right to bless any type of union. I believe the blessing of a union is the jurisdiction of our communities of worship. I believe that the State and bodies of government who serve the people of this State should be in the business of protecting and defending the freedoms and rights of all the people they serve. That is why I believe that our State should step up to the plate and pass House Bill 444, which it seeks to offer to all the people of Hawaii that which is now reserved for only some.

I disagree with the majority of colleagues of mine, who suggest that what is offered to some within our community should be limited to just unions between a man and wife. We are a nation that claims that we are all created equal under the law. Therefore what’s offered to some should be offered to all. I personally believe that the state should only offer civil unions and that religious orders should be free to bless whatever unions they feel compelled before God to bless. I think the State should be divorced from making decisions that are of a religious nature.

The United Church of Christ the denomination of which I serve has long been the defenders and advocates of gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual rights. We believe that we are all created in the image of God and that the God we serve is a God of wonderful and glorious diversity. I do not believe the laws of our land should be based on points of theological order. Our Laws should instead be based on the civil rights of every individual. House Bill 444 should therefore be passed to assure the rights of every individual in Hawaii.

Rev. Ron Williams
Honolulu

Aloha from the Bay Area

Whenever I tell people I am from Hawaii, they always smile. To them, Hawaii means paradise and aloha. I am local boy born and raised on the Big Island. I have worked in San Francisco for two years now.

I think of San Francisco as an island of misfit toys. It’s full of people from all walks of life: liberals, tech geeks, vegans, hippies, a colorful array of immigrants and, yes, the gays (or more correctly, the LBGT community, possibly one of the most renowned in the nation). It’s a city that has welcomed all who come here with open arms. I absolutely love it here.

It really disappointed me to learn that in Hawaii, opponents of House Bill 444 went out of their way to try and put a ban on civil unions. All this bill does is grant legal rights and protections for same-sex couples. It hurt me because I pride myself here in San Francisco on being from Hawaii, this place I always thought of as diverse, accepting and full of aloha for all. But there is no aloha for the LGBT community.

As long as there is homophobia, hatred and no justice for the LGBT community, San Francisco will always have more aloha to offer than Hawaii. Aloha is love and respect for everyone. I’d hate to see the day that I tell someone that I am from Hawaii, then see their face go sour.

Shawn Carter
San Francisco

A reasonable proposition

Opponents of civil unions and HB444 claim to be protecting marriage. What they are trying to protect is their status. Some of the rights they have are thought to be too precious to share with a minority of state residents. I’m a bit tired of hearing about gays wanting special rights when in fact, it is the HB444 opponents who want to maintain their “special” rights. Civil union supporters want equal rights–not special rights. And denying equal rights to a person based on his or her sexual orientation is discriminatory.

I was pleased to see that newly elected US House Rep.Charles Djou stood up to his party and voted to repeal the discriminatory policy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Let’s hope that Gov. Lingle will do the right thing as well and listen to the voices of reason and fairness and sign HB444 into law.

Robert Rameyer
Honolulu

Please

Gov. Lingle. Sign HB444 into law. Once and for all please supply equal rights to civil union partners who under the Constitution of the U.S. are entitled to. We are part of “We The People Of The United States Of America.” Treat everyone as our constitution provides. By not treating all parties equal, you disrespect your country. Think about it! Just do the right thing. Enough of this discrimination and beating down people for just being proud Americans and human beings.

Pass HB444 now.

William Smith
Honolulu

Please.

Over 37 years, my partner and I made a commitment to one another to love, honor and respect each other. We do not have rights of survivorship, benefits of tax laws or any legal recognition. When life ends the other will potentially face having a long-lost relative claiming everything we have worked so hard for all of these years together. If seriously ill, we face being banned from even visitation, even though we have a detailed will. What if that was your future?

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, ….”

Do all Americans have the rights guaranteed by this document? Sadly we must say that we do not. Is there one thing that allowing us to be at least recognized in the State of Hawaii that will harm you or your family?

Please give our family these freedoms, Gov. Lingle.

Gerald Ashton
Wailuku, Maui