U.S.

Hawaii Legislature Sends Same-Sex Marriage Bill to the Governor's Desk

The Hawaii Senate gave final approval to a same-sex marriage bill on Tuesday, with a 19-4 vote in favor.

By Abby Ohlheiser
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This article is from the archive of our partner .

The Hawaii Senate gave final approval to a same-sex marriage bill on Tuesday, with a 19-4 vote in favor. The bill, strongly supported by Gov. Neil Abercrombie, could be signed into law later today. That would make Hawaii the 15th state to legalize gay marriage. The bill would take effect December 2.

Earlier this year, Abercrombie called a special session of the Hawaii legislature just to give the state a chance to legalize gay marriage by the end of the year. While Abercrombie does have a record of supporting the advancement of marriage equality, his urgency was prompted by the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Defense of Marriage Act restrictions on federal benefits for legally-married gay couples. The bill would open up married, same-sex couples in the state to the same federal benefits offered to any other married couple.

After the bill initially passed the Senate at the end of October by a vote of 20-4, the House amended the measure to expand religious exemptions to include more religious organizations. Then, the House passed the bill 30-19, sending it back to the Senate for final approval in its amended form. It is expected that Abercrombie will sign it into law with no further amendments.

President Obama greeted the news with a sneaky reminder that yes, come on, he was born in the United States of America:

Assuming the bill is signed in the next day or so, Hawaii will be the 15th state to officially legalize marriage equality. But the state's legislature passed the measure after the Illinois General Assembly sent a bill legalizing gay marriage to Governor Pat Quinn's desk. Quinn plans to sign the bill on November 20th, setting Illinois on track to become the 16th state to legalize gay marriage.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.