Same-sex marriage has been legal in Hawaii since December 2, 2013. The Hawaii State Legislature held a special session beginning on October 28, 2013, and passed the Hawaii Marriage Equality Act legalizing same-sex marriage. Governor Neil Abercrombie signed the legislation on November 13, and same-sex couples began marrying on December 2, making Hawaii the fifteenth U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage. Hawaii also allows both same-sex and opposite-sex couples to formalize their relationships legally in the form of civil unions and reciprocal beneficiary relationships. Civil unions provide the same rights, benefits, and obligations of marriage at the state level, while reciprocal beneficiary relationships provide a more limited set of rights. When Hawaii's civil union law took effect at the start of 2012, same-sex marriages established in other jurisdictions were considered civil unions in Hawaii.

Hawaii's denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples was first challenged in state court in 1991, and the plaintiffs initially met with some success. In 1993, a ruling by the Supreme Court of Hawaii made Hawaii the first state in the United States to consider legal challenges to bans on same-sex marriage. However, Hawaii voters later amended the State Constitution in 1998 to allow the State Legislature to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples. By the time the Supreme Court of Hawaii considered the final appeal in the case in 1999, it upheld the state's ban on same-sex marriage. This amendment was ultimately repealed by voters through a ballot measure in 2024, explicitly removing the Legislature's authority to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples.

Legal history

Baehr case Baehr v. Miike (originally Baehr v. Lewin) was a case decided by the Supreme Court of Hawaii, which initially found that the state's refusal to grant same-sex couples marriage licenses was discriminatory. In 1991, three same-sex couples sued Hawaii Director of Health John C. Lewin in his official capacity, seeking to force the state to issue them marriage licenses. The couples were Genora Dancel and Ninia Baehr, Joseph Melillo and Pat Lagon, and Tammy Rodrigues and Antoinette Pregil. After the case was dismissed by the trial court, the couples appealed to the Supreme Court. In the plurality opinion delivered by Associate Justice Steven Levinson and concurred in by Chief Justice Ronald Moon on May 5, 1993, the court ruled that while the right to privacy in the Hawaii Constitution does not include a fundamental right to same-sex marriage, denying marriage to same-sex couples constituted discrimination based on sex in violation of the right to equal protection guaranteed by the State Constitution. The court remanded the case to the trial court, instructing that "in accordance with the 'strict scrutiny' standard, the burden will rest on Lewin to overcome the presumption that HRS § 572-1 [the state's marriage statute] is unconstitutional by demonstrating that it furthers compelling state interests and is narrowly drawn to avoid unnecessary abridgments of constitutional rights."Baehr v. Lewin, 74 Haw. 530, 852 P.2d 44 (1993), reconsideration and clarification granted in part, 74 Haw. 645, 852 P.2d 74 (1993).

In 1996, Judge Kevin S.C. Chang ruled that the state did not meet its evidentiary burden. It did not prove that the state had a compelling interest in denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples and even assuming that it had it had not proven that HRS § 572-1 was narrowly tailored to avoid unnecessary abridgement of constitutional rights. He enjoined the state from refusing to issue marriage licenses to otherwise-qualified same-sex couples.Baehr v. Miike, Circuit Court for the First Circuit, Hawaii No. 91-1394 The following day, Chang stayed his ruling, acknowledging the "legally untenable" position couples would be in should the Hawaii Supreme Court reverse him on appeal.

On December 9, 1999, the Hawaii Supreme Court, following the passage of a constitutional amendment empowering the Hawaii State Legislature to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, ruled that "The passage of the marriage amendment placed HRS § 572-1 on new footing. The marriage amendment validated HRS § 572-1 by taking the statute out of the ambit of the equal protection clause of the Hawaii Constitution, at least insofar as the statute, both on its face and as applied, purported to limit access to the marital status to opposite-sex couples. Accordingly, whether or not in the past it was violative of the equal protection clause in the foregoing respect, HRS § 572-1 no longer is. In light of the marriage amendment, HRS § 572-1 must be given full force and effect." Because the remedy sought by the plaintiffs – access to marriage licenses – was no longer available, this reversed Chang's ruling and remanded the case for entry of judgment in favor of the defendant. As no federal constitutional issues were raised, the case could not be brought to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Constitutional amendments

Following the 1993 decision by the Hawaii Supreme Court that found the state's refusal to grant same-sex couples marriage licenses discriminatory, voters in 1998 approved a constitutional amendment, Amendment 2, granting the Hawaii State Legislature the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples, which made it impossible to challenge the state's ban on same-sex marriage. The state had enacted a statute defining marriage as an institution for "one man and one woman" in 1994, following the first state court decision that questioned the state's denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. In 1996, the United States Congress also enacted the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA; ), which banned federal recognition of same-sex marriages.

In 2023, a coalition of local organizations was formed to repeal Amendment 2. Senator Chris Lee and Representative Adrian Tam announced their support for the campaign and pledged to push for the passage of legislation repealing the amendment. A constitutional amendment was introduced to the State Legislature on January 24, 2024 by Representative Scott Saiki. It passed the House on March 5 by 43 votes to 6, and the Senate on April 9 by 24 votes to 1. Senator Mike Gabbard, well-known for his opposition to same-sex marriage in the 1990s, gave a public apology in the Senate Judiciary Committee and voted to repeal the amendment in the final vote on the Senate floor. As Amendment 1, it was approved on November 5, 2024 with 56% of the vote. Constitutional amendments require a majority of all votes cast; taking the blank votes and overvotes into account, the measure passed by 51–40 percent. It was approved in all counties except Kalawao, and on all islands except Niʻihau and Molokaʻi.

+March 5, 2024 vote in the House of Representatives Political affiliation Voted for Voted against Absent (Did not vote) Democratic Party Republican Party – Total 6 2

+April 9, 2024 vote in the Senate Political affiliation Voted for Voted against Absent (Did not vote) Democratic Party – – Republican Party – Total 1 0

Civil unions

Civil unions (, ) were introduced in Hawaii on January 1, 2012, following the passage of legislation in early 2011. These unions provide all of the rights, benefits and responsibilities of marriage at the state level. In 1997, the state established reciprocal beneficiary relationships, open to all couples as well as blood relatives, offering numerous spousal rights including the ability to sue for wrongful death, decisions about health care, proptery rights and co-tenancy, inheritance without a will, and insurance and state pensions.

Bills creating civil unions were considered several times, but failed to receive approval in legislative committees before 2009. In 2010, Hawaii House Bill 444 (HB 444), which would have created civil unions for same-sex and opposite-sex couples, passed the House of Representatives and Senate. Governor Linda Lingle vetoed it in July 2010. Following Lingle's veto, the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal filed Young v. Lingle on behalf of six same-sex couples. The suit, while acknowledging that the state had the constitutional authority to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, asserted that the State Constitution still mandated that same-sex couples be accorded equal treatment. The suit was withdrawn on March 31, 2011.

A bill substantively similar to HB 444, Senate Bill 232, was passed on January 26, 2011 by the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee in a 3–2 vote, and was passed by the Senate 19–6 on January 28. A modification to the bill was then made in the House of Representatives before passage on February 11 by a vote of 31–19. The Senate passed the revised bill on February 16, and Governor Neil Abercrombie signed it into law on February 23. Civil unions began on January 1, 2012. 417 couples obtained a civil union license in the first six months after the law went into effect. Low participation may have been the result of technical issues that surrounded the conversion of a reciprocal beneficiary relationship to a civil union. A bill correcting the transitional issues was signed into law on July 6, 2012. At the end of 2012, over 700 couples had established civil unions. Since Hawaii enacted same-sex marriage in November 2013, civil unions remain an option for both opposite-sex and same-sex couples to access, making Hawaii one of only four states (Colorado, Illinois and New Jersey being the other three; several other states also recognize domestic partnerships providing many of the benefits of marriage) to allow for this practice.

Jackson case

On December 7, 2011, a same-sex couple filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii to obtain a marriage license in Hawaii. The state's denial was based on its marriage laws: Article 1 of the Hawaii Constitution, which left any decision on same-sex marriage to the Hawaii State Legislature, along with the statute that defined marriage only "between a man and a woman". The initial suit was styled Jackson v. Abercrombie, after first-named plaintiff Natasha Jackson and first-named defendant Governor Neil Abercrombie. On January 27, 2012, an amended complaint added plaintiff Gary Bradley, a partner in a same-sex civil union, who wanted to marry but thought it futile to apply. The plaintiffs argued that the marriage laws violated the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Governor Abercrombie agreed with the plaintiffs that the ban violated both clauses of the U.S. Constitution, but the state's Director of Health, Loretta Fuddy, was allowed to defend the ban.

In an order issued on August 8, 2012, U.S. District Court Judge Alan Kay rejected the plaintiffs' claims and granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment, upholding Hawaii's ban on same-sex marriage. Judge Kay's ruling became the first court decision to cite the "New Family Structure" research of Mark Regnerus, research discredited by the American Sociological Association as well as thoroughly rejected by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California during the Hollingsworth v. Perry trial.