We were driving home and caught the story on a civil unions bill already moving in the Senate reported by Hawaii News Now in its 6 p.m. news. It was the typical “he said-she said” reporting, giving both sides a brief quote or two.
What was glaringly absent was any reference to the recent elections which, in key aspects, were a test of the political strength of the vocal and highly visible opposition to civil unions. They lost, and their candidates lost. And this means the fear factor among legislators concerned about voter reaction to civil unions is certainly reduced, if not eliminated. It seems to me that it’s a key factor in understanding the issue this year, and its absence from the discussion is obvious.
The governor announced his supreme court pick yesterday.
I noticed the qualifier in this sentence from the Star-Advertiser’s profile of the nominee this morning:
McKenna would be the first openly gay member of the Hawaii Supreme Court.
Implying she is not the first gay justice. Interesting. There’s some missing history.
Gov. Abercrombie’s decision to keep the list of nominees forwarded by the Judicial Selection Commission secret continues to generate criticism.
Civil Beat’s Mike Levine posted a story before the governor’s announcement which refers to CB’s attempts to pry the names of nominees loose, and Dave Shapiro took a swing in his Volcanic Ash column today.
Recommended reading: “Judicial Independence in Hawaii“, a report by the League of Women Voters of Hawaii. The section on judicial selection discusses the issue of secrecy in the process. The report was done in 2001 and updated two years later, but is still a very good assessment of the process.
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Hmmm . . . maybe future announcements should say if the nominee is openly heterosexual as well. After all, it is germane to getting appointed to the bench, right?
Seems to me there are legitimate arguments on the other side of this issue, too.
that a Supreme Court nominee is a very important part of the background that a public position like this should be disclosed. If a Guv or President is running for office are you saying being gay is not worthy of mention? And before you jump on the wagon to bash me for something anti-gay, I’m not. Sexual preference is a choice that we are all free to make.
“Sexual preference is a choice that we are all free to make.”
Actually I am not sure that is true. I can’t speak for gays, but many of them do say that, like red heads, they were not given a choice in the matter. Genetically, while there doesn’t seem to be a single gene for gayness, there do seem to be a bunch of genes that interact with the environment so one ends up gay, or straight.
Hmm, well I go back 25+ years on this one and I have to say that I can’t recall a member of the HSC that was believed to be gay, but not openly, so I’m not sure to whom the article might be referring. Former First Deputy AG Lisa Ginoza was sworn in last year as an Associate Judge of the ICA, her hand resting on a bible held by her partner. I guess that was an open acknowledgment by an appellate judge, if not an avowal, of her sexuality. Bottom line is that McKenna is a good, solid choice and helps the HSC reflect the diversity that defines our community, so good on ya Neil!
Ian,
You are, of course, right that the debate over civil unions is occurring in the aftermath of an election which demonstrated the Red Shirt, anti-civil unions “voting bloc” was a paper tiger.
But the threat was the only effective argument that side had. Well, that and “Leviticus,” “the Fall of Rome” and “yuck!”
Speaker Say made it clear he favored passage of Civil Unions in 2009, a non-election year, but that he was opposed to “exposing his members” to retaliation in an election year.
Since this is not an election year, since the anti-civil union candidates fare poorly in the recent election, and since Abercrombie has said he will sign the bill, everything is in place to pass the bill quickly and then move onto the HARD stuff, like the budget.
Talking about secrecy, the neighborhood board commission voted to extend Board Members term for 2 years! With no votes from the public. In another word, there will be no neighborhood board elections!
The Koolauloa Neighborhood Board received petitions for recall from unhappy Ko’olauloa residents.
What next?
@seems to me, my point is that someone’s sexuality is about as important as someone’s, say, religion.
I rarely see a news article that reports on a nominee’s religious faith (or lack thereof).
Unless, of course, you’re implying that one’s religious faith is not worthy of mention but one’s sexual orientation is.
As far as “choosing” being gay or not, I agree with Ulu. I am pretty certain, however, that people do choose their religious faith.
a lot of people are “born” into a religion way before they
are free agents and able to choose to join a church. It’s why there
are congregations and religions traditions. my family has been
going to the same church for 3 generations.
So if you are “born” into a religion, you are not permitted to leave that religion/church?
Being born into a religion is not a choice. Staying in that religion is a choice.