Posted on: Saturday, October 2, 2004

EDITORIAL
Abercrombie, Case right on gay marriage

The United States House of Representatives was right to vote down a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, and Hawai'i's two representatives were correct to be on the prevailing side.

The Constitution is no place to settle contentious issues such as this.

What was interesting was the subtle difference in the reasoning between Rep. Neil Abercrombie, the more senior and more liberal of the two representatives, and Rep. Ed Case.

Abercrombie made the argument that banning same-sex marriage in the Constitution is only a short step away from claiming federal jurisdiction over other aspects of family life, an interesting observation.

He also made the point we have made, that inserting such a ban would be a rare instance of constitutionally curtailing rights rather than expanding them.

Case agreed that the Constitution should not be used to foreclose potential minority rights. But he also noted that there is no national or local consensus on this issue and thus it is not ripe for action.

Case's opponent in this year's election, Mike Gabbard, has been a prominent opponent of gay marriage. Case's focus on the technical and political flaws in the proposal suggest he is far from ready to let gay marriage or same-sex unions become a wedge issue in his re-election campaign.