Measure 2
November 3, 1998
Hawaii Marriage Amendment
Results
Choice
 Votes  %
Yes 285,384 70.78%
No 117,827 29.22%
Valid votes 403,211 97.74%
Invalid or blank votes 9,309 2.26%
Total votes 412,520 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 601,404 68.59%

Constitutional Amendment 2 of 1998 amended the Constitution of Hawaii, granting the state legislature the power to prevent same-sex marriage from being conducted or recognized in Hawaii. Amendment 2 was the first constitutional amendment adopted in the United States that specifically targeted same-sex partnerships.[1]

In 1993, the Hawaii State Supreme Court ruled in Baehr v. Lewin, 852 P.2d 44 (Haw. 1993), that refusing to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples was discriminatory under that state's constitution. However, the court did not immediately order the state to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples; rather, it remanded the case to the trial court and ordered the state to justify its position. After the trial court judge rejected the state's justifications for limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples in 1996 (but stayed his ruling to allow the state to appeal to the Supreme Court again), the Hawaii State Legislature passed a proposed constitutional amendment during the 1997 session that would overrule the Supreme Court's 1993 ruling and allow the Legislature to ban same-sex marriage. This constitutional amendment appeared on the 1998 general election ballot as Constitutional Amendment 2.[2]

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender rights in Hawaii
Baehr v. Lewin (1993)
Baehr v. Miike (1996, 1999)
Constitutional Amendment 2 (1998)
House Bill 444 (2009)
Senate Bill 232 (2011)
Hawaii Marriage Equality Act (2013)
Equality Hawaii
LGBT rights in the United States
Same-sex marriage in Hawaii
Reciprocal beneficiary relationships in Hawaii
LGBT history in Hawaii
LGBT Portal

The question that appeared on the ballot for voters was:[3]

Shall the Constitution of the state of Hawaii be amended to specify that the Legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples?

Amendment 2 differed from amendments that followed in other states in that it did not write a ban on same-sex marriage into the state's constitution; rather, it allowed the state legislature to enact such a ban.[4] On November 3, 1998, Hawaii voters approved the amendment by a vote of 69.2–28.6%,[5] and the state legislature exercised its power to ban same-sex marriage.[4]

The language added by the amendment reads:[6]

The legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples.

— Article I, section 23, The Constitution of the State of Hawaii

On October 14, 2013, Hawaii Attorney General David M. Louie stated in a formal legal opinion that Amendment 2 does not prevent the state legislature from legalizing same-sex marriage,[7] which it did in November 2013 with the Hawaii Marriage Equality Act.

Results of vote

Constitutional amendment
Choice Votes  %
Referendum passed Yes 285,384 69.2
No 117,827 28.6
Valid votes 403,211 97.8
Invalid or blank votes 9,309 2.2
Total votes 412,520 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 601,404 68.6
Source: Hawaii Office of Elections (November 4, 1998). "1998 General Election Statewide Summary Report". Archived from the original on June 2, 2006. Retrieved April 29, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

References

  1. ↑ "Baehr v. Miike". Lambda Legal. Archived from the original on February 3, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  2. ↑ Wilson, Christie (January 24, 2010). "Same-sex marriage issue has endured a long fight in Hawaii". The Honolulu Advertiser. Archived from the original on December 14, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  3. ↑ Gima, Craig (October 7, 1998). "Same-sex vote won't answer all questions". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Archived from the original on August 7, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Niesse, Mark (February 23, 2009). "Hawaii is latest civil unions battleground". Taiwan News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 29, 2022. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  5. ↑ "General Election 1998" (PDF). Hawaii Office of Elections. November 3, 1998. p. 4. Archived from the original on June 2, 2006. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  6. ↑ Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau. "Article I: Bill of Rights". The Constitution of the State of Hawaii. Archived from the original on February 21, 2006. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Haw. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 13-1" (PDF). October 14, 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved April 29, 2022.

See also

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