What's Up

    "We hold these truths to be self evident; That all men are created
equal; they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable
rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness." (Declaration of Independence, 1776). With these brave
words, men the likes of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin
Franklin, and John Hancock helped to lay the basis upon which our
nation has so proudly stood for two hundred and twenty years.
Although they had no notion in 1776 that the Declaration of
Independence would evolve to embody the spirit of American
democracy: freedom, equality, and fairness. It is with the spirit of
these words Americans such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a leader
of the Women's Rights movement of the 1920s, and Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. launched campaigns that would lead to the 19th
amendment to the Constitution that empowered women with the right
to vote and the desegregation of America's school system.

    During the 1970's the Gay and Lesbian segment of America's
population began stepping forward in an attempt to gain the equality
they had so long been denied. Events such as Stonewall and the Gay
Pride Parade in San Francisco have become rallying points for gays
and lesbians to show their pride and protest inequality and injustice.
Today gay America struggles to garner the most fundamental right
of marriage which some gay and lesbian leaders regard as the "core
issue" of the gay rights movement while in every state in the union
efforts are blocked by legislators attempting to outlaw such unions.

    One of the most basic rights entitled to American's is the right to
marry, or rather the rights that are entitled to married persons
(Homer, 1994, pp. 1-2). In a 1995 release for Out!NOW Marvin
Liebman suggests "The concept of gay marriage is highly energizing
and, perhaps, the issue will finally turn American lesbians and gay
men into a cohesive force and movement" (Liebman, 1995).

    "Prior to 1994 only four reported court cases dealt head-on with
same-sex marriage - three in the early 70s and one in 1984"
(Link, 1996, p. 30). In 1991 the case of three same-sex couples - Nina
Baehr and Genora Dancel, Tammy Rodrigues and Antoinette Pergil,
and Pat Logan and Joseph Melilio - came before the Hawaii State
Circuit Court. The plaintiffs contended that in December of 1990 they
had applied for marriage licenses with the Hawaii State Department|
of Health, as is required by state statue 572 and were denied on the
basis that the couples were of the same sex (Baehr v. Lewin). Further
they charged that: "The DOH's interpretation and application of
HRS s 572-1 to deny same-sex couples access to marriage licenses
violates the plaintiffs right to privacy...as well as to the equal
protection of the laws and due process of law..."
(Baehr v. Lewin, 1993)

    John C. Lewin, in his official capacity as Director of the
Department of Health, filled an amended answer to the charge
on July 9, 1991 with a                                       ===>