RORY BARBAROSSA

Four Hawaii same-sex couples entered into civil unions early on New Year’s Day as a new statewide law took effect. The couples–Monica Montgomery and Donna Gedge,  Saralyn Batt and Isajah Morales, Gary Bradley and Paul Perry, and Bonnie Limatoc-DePonte and Lydia Pontin–became the first to legally wed as Hawaii began to legally recognize same-sex civil unions.

The law allows both same-sex and opposite-sex couples to join in civil unions. These unions possess the same rights and responsibilities that come with traditional marriages. With Hawaii and Delaware marching down the aisle to recognition on Jan. 1, there are now five states that recognize same-sex civil unions. Six states and the District of Columbia give outright same-sex marriage licenses: Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Washington, D.C.

California does not recognize new same-sex marriages. In May 2008, the state’s Supreme Court ruled that gay couples have the right to marry in California. Later that year, opponents of same-sex marriage secured passage of Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.  A federal judge ruled in 2010 that Proposition 8 violated the U.S. Constitution. Enforcement of that ruling was stayed pending appeal.

The passage of the laws in both Hawaii and Delaware were not without debate and compromise. Lawmakers in both states made it plain that “it is not the legislature’s intent to revise the definition or eligibility requirements of marriage.”

Calling it “a prime example of exercising civic courage,” Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat, signed the state’s civil unions bill into law last February. “It is about doing what is right, no matter how difficult, no matter how much opposition,” Abercrombie added.

Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat, signed the Delaware law in May saying boldly, “Th is bill

is about a new energy and excitement. It’s about a moment in our history that came about because people came together to work for it, because it became clear that Delaware’s LGBT community is in fact part of every Delaware community. The greater good is served when we speak out and fight hard when we see that bias, prejudice or even outdated laws attempt to lessen any one of us.”