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The state senate in Hawaii has voted in favour of a civil union bill which would allow same-sex couples, along with unmarried heterosexual ones, to register their relationships and gain the same rights and responsibilities as marriage.

Legislators voted 18 to 7 for the bill on Friday, 22 January. The next step for the bill is to go before the House of Representatives, a move that is expected this week. Supporters of the bill, such as Equality Hawaii, greeted the result with optimism. The group’s co-chair Alan Spector said in a press statement: “The road has been long and the fight has been emotional, but today we’re one step closer to providing equal rights and responsibilities.”

If cleared, Hawaii will become one of a handful of US states recognising same-sex partnerships: in New Jersey, civil unions confer all the same rights and benefits as marriage; Nevada, Oregon and Washington’s domestic partnership laws share most rights with marriage, while some rights are extended to couples in Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. In California, meanwhile, a case to determine whether Proposition 8 – the 2008 ruling that barred same-sex marriage – is constitutional is currently under way.

Posted in: Campaigns & Politics |