- HONOLULU (AP) -- Azure waves break gently on gleaming white sand. A young
man in a white tuxedo with a lei around his neck runs down the beach, arms
outstretched, toward a vibrant young bride -- then rushes right past her
into the arms of another man.
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- The TV commercial jabbing at gay marriage
is part of intense political battles in Hawaii and Alaska, where proposed
state constitutional amendments banning such unions are on Nov. 3 ballots.
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- Alaska's measure would amend its constitution
to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The Legislature
put the question on the ballot after a Superior Court judge ruled in favor
of two homosexual men who challenged the state ban on same-sex marriage.
The judge said choosing a life partner was a fundamental right and the
state had to prove a compelling reason to regulate it.
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- The Hawaii initiative is lawmakers' latest
try to sidestep the state Supreme Court's 1993 ruling that the state had
no constitutional right to ban homosexual marriages because that would
deny some citizens the rights provided to others.
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- The Hawaii measure is half of a compromise
devised 18 months ago. The second half was a bill granting same-sex and
other unmarried couples some legal rights enjoyed by married couples, including
inheritance rights and spousal medical benefits. Lawmakers hoped to satisfy
the court while also preventing homosexuals from marrying.
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- Because the U.S. Constitution requires
states to honor each other's statutes and legal bonds, Hawaii's 1993 ruling
set off some furious preemptive legislating around the country. Congress
passed the Defense of Marriage Act, which denied federal recognition of
gay marriage and allowed states to ignore same-sex unions licensed elsewhere.
So far, 29 states have banned homosexual marriage.
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- But some in Hawaii hold out hope the
state will eventually legalize gay marriage, if only to capitalize on the
potential tourism boost.
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- "I think there are a lot of gay
and lesbian couples out there waiting to see what will happen in Hawaii
and will want to come here to be married if it becomes legal," said
the Rev. Kenneth Grimes, an advocate of same-sex marriages.
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- His company, Simply Married, performs
about 1,000 weddings each year but only half a dozen "commitment ceremonies"
for homosexual couples, despite advertising in mainland gay publications.
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- But another potential beneficiary, the
Rev. Karen Russ of Weddings of Hawaii, doesn't want the business. Her company
does about 1,500 weddings a year.
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- "I am not for it in any shape or
form," she said. "I have seen such pain in children who are being
raised by one or the other of their parents. I feel in my heart that they
need both a mom and a dad. That's what a marriage is for."
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- Polls show the majority of voters in
both Alaska and Hawaii oppose giving marriage licenses to homosexuals.
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- But the attorney who represents the two
lesbian couples and two gay men who first challenged Hawaii's law insists
the proposed amendment won't touch the core of the high court's 1993 ruling:
that benefits given heterosexual couples must be given to same-sex couples.
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- "If you want to end the debate on
same-sex marriage in Hawaii, vote no," said attorney Dan Foley. "If
the amendment is approved, the legal fight continues."
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