Hawaii Constitutional Amendment 2 1998 Article Index for
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Hawaii Constitutional Amendment 2 1998




Constitutional Amendment 2 of 1998 is a so-called " Defense Of Marriage Amendment " that amended the Constitution Of Hawaii by granting the state legislature the power to prevent Same-sex Marriage s from being conducted or recognized in Hawaii . Amendment 2 was the first defense of marriage amendment to be adopted in the United States.

In 1993, the '' January 22, 1997 However, the court did not immediately order the state to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples; rather, it stayed its ruling and ordered the state to justify its sex discrimination. This ruling galvanized opposition to same-sex marriage in the state and around the country and led to the adoption of Amendment 2.

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. "Homosexual (same-sex) marriages in Hawaii" Robinson, B.A.''''. November 3, 1998

The text of the amendment states:

The legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples. Hawai`i State Constitution , Article I, section 23, Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau. (Accessed 30 November 2006).



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