We are the proud parents of a bright, well-adjusted daughter and we have the same kind of hopes and aspirations that all parents do about what the future holds for their children. So, imagine our devastation when, on July 6, Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed HB444, the civil unions bill that would have extended the benefits and protections afforded by marriage to all Hawaii families. It would have taken nothing away from anyone. It would have meant the world to us and to other LGBT families. It would have made our lives more secure and allowed us to take care of our families.

There was a certain inexplicable perversity to that decision that dishonors the aloha spirit. As much perversity as there was in the governor pinning and honoring a new brigadier general at a ceremony earlier that same day, witnessed by a large group of uniformed servicemen and women, and hours later denying the many gays and lesbians in military service equal rights. We know from recent research that people in Hawaii by a ratio of 2:1 approve of gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. Apparently this governor feels it is perfectly acceptable to let gays and lesbians put their lives on the line in defense of their nation while withholding from them the same rights that heterosexual servicemen and women enjoy.

Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona apparently felt it was too much pressure on one individual, especially in an election year, to be asked to make a decision of this import. We believe the people of Hawaii have a right to expect that someone who seeks the highest office in the state won’t shirk the responsibility that comes with it.

Providing same-sex couples and their families legal recognition is a responsibility that Lingle has chosen to pass on to the “people of Hawaii behind the curtain of the voting booth.” Had others ducked their responsibility the way Lingle did, or stood in the way of progress by keeping women confined to traditional roles, her own career would not have been possible. America’s representative form of democracy was designed precisely to avoid the tyranny of the majority. Such votes too often abridge the rights of minorities.

An irony that was left unspoken was that reflected in the faces of many inter-racial couples who spoke out against civil unions. Had it been left to the people to decide “behind the curtain of the voting booth” these couples might not have had the freedom to get married. It took the Loving vs. Virginia decision of 1967 to make interracial marriage possible in all the states. That Supreme Court ruling pointed out that to deprive people of the right to marry on the basis of race is “directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment” and deprives “all the State’s citizens of liberty without due process of law.” It took Brown vs. the Board of Education in 1954 to decide that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”

Lingle chose to pass on the historic opportunity handed to her to end discrimination in Hawaii on the basis of sexual orientation. She knows, as we all do, that justice and minority rights are seldom advanced by popular vote. We elect leaders with the expectation that they will have the courage to honestly and impartially serve the needs of the entire community–including minorities. Neither justice nor the rights of the LGBT minority were served by governor Lingle’s decision to veto HB444. Our disappointment only strengthens us for the work we will continue to do to ensure equal rights not just for ourselves but for all LGBT families in Hawaii.

We will not forfeit our claim to the principle of equality enshrined in both our Federal and State constitutions. Lingle, after eight years in office, has chosen to ignore what those foundational documents guarantee American citizens in Hawaii. Yes, it is an election year and the people of Hawaii must elect leaders who will respect those guarantees of equality.

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