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Yes
No
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.
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.
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| 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 |
 LGBTQ portal
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The question that appeared on the ballot for voters was:
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. On November 3, 1998, Hawaii voters approved the amendment by a vote of 69.2–28.6%, and the state legislature exercised its power to ban same-sex marriage.
The language added by the amendment reads:
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, which it did in November 2013 with the Hawaii Marriage Equality Act.
On November 5, 2024, Hawaii held a referendum to remove the amendment from the state constitution. The measure passed by a vote of 55.9%-44.1%
Results of vote
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
 Yes
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285,384 | 70.8 |
| No | 117,827 | 29.2 |
| 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)
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References
- General/OHA - STATE OF HAWAII - Statewide November 03, 1998 ** Summary Report **
- "Baehr v. Miike". Lambda Legal. Archived from the original on February 3, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- 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.
- 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.
- ^ 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.
- "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.
- 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.
- "Haw. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 13-1" (PDF). October 14, 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
- "Hawaii Remove Legislature Authority to Limit Marriage to Opposite-Sex Couples Amendment (2024)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
- "Hawai'i Office of Elections" (PDF).
See also
| Same-sex unions in the United States | |||||||||||
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| General unions |
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| Marriage |
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| Civil unions and domestic partnerships |
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| U.S. same-sex unions ballot measures | |
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| : De facto ban, granted Legislature authority to ban same-sex marriage. Reversed in 2013 by the Hawaii Marriage Equality Act. | |