Hawaii House committee pass bill to legalize gay marriage, moves to full House
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After listening to nearly 57 hours of public testimony, from more than 5,000 members of the public, the Hawaii House Committee on Judiciary and Finance voted 18-12 to approve an amended Senate Bill 1, which would legalize same-sex marriage in the state. The full House will resume tomorrow to debate the legislation on the floor.
The vote brought to a close one of the most well-attended and lengthiest committee hearings in recent memory. People waited hours, even days for their two minutes at the podium to voice their opinion on gay marriage. By the time the House reached testifiers Nos. 4,401 to 5,000 late Saturday night, many people already sounded frustrated, angry and tired, and much of that emotion carried over to Monday and Tuesday's hearing.
At the earliest, a vote in the full House could come by Friday (the legislation would need to sit 48 hours). If approved by majority House lawmakers as is, the legislation would require Gov. Neil Abercrombie's signature to become law.
The House will resume session at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6.
Read our previous coverage:
Hawaii lawmakers begin debating same-sex marriage legislation
Hawaii House committee to accept same-sex marriage testimony until midnight Oct. 31
