MassResistance plays pivotal role in helping stop "civil unions" bill in Hawaii Senate!

Was homosexual lobby's strategy for eventual "gay marriage"

March 13, 2009

MassResistance played a pivotal role in helping stop a major "civil unions" bill in the Hawaii Legislature, according to sources on both sides of the issue.

At 9:00 a.m. on February 24, the Judiciary and Operations Committee of the Hawaii Legislature convened a public hearing on Bill #444 which would legalize homosexual civil unions in that state. It was a marathon 18-hour session with over 1400 people testifying that finally ended at 3:30 a.m. the following morning!

According to observers, a number of the attendees had copies of the MassResistance pamphlet "What Same-Sex Marriage has done to Massachusetts", and much of the testimony came from it. All of the committee members had been given copies, and one of the Senators used information from it in his discussions with other members at the hearing.

At 3:30 a.m. when the hearing ended, the committee immediately took a vote. It was a 3-3 tie - and thus the bill got killed in committee!  A VICTORY!

Although the bill could be brought back to life by a 1/3 vote of the full Senate (9 members), at this time both sides agree that's unlikely. However, MassResistance has been working with Senate staff and has also had strategy discussions with one Senator to keep that from happening. We have also been working with activists, researchers, and others in Hawaii.

Lining up outside the Senate hearing room. Hundreds of Hawaii pro-family activists started waiting at 5:00 a.m. to testify. Hearing lasted over 18 hours until 3:30 a.m. the following morning!

Backlash by homosexual lobby - the usual lies and deception

The success of MassResistance in Hawaii has enraged the homosexual lobby. They acknowledge that we've been effective, and they are fighting back by trying to discredit our report. They are making absurd claims that the facts we present are not true. They are telling Hawaii legislators, for example, that homosexual story books really aren't being read to kids in Massachusetts schools - that MassResistance is just making that up. (Tell that to David Parker!) By the way, they tried that same tacic in California.

As the Boston homosexual newspaper, Bay Windows, said in an angry article this week,

". . . MassResistance, may be a familiar face to lawmakers in Massachusetts, but [it] is having an impact on the civil union debate thousands of miles away in sunny Hawaii." [They go on to complain that people at the hearing had our pamphlet on their laps!]

Read entire Bay Windows article: "MassResistance goes Hawaiian"
(You've got to see this to believe how incensed they are!)

In a bold stroke of hypocrisy, the homosexual activists are disputing the statement in our report that "the rates of AIDS/HIV have gone up considerably in Massachusetts." They say that claim is "bogus". But that's exactly what they were claiming last year when they were lobbying the Massachusetts Legislature for $500,000 more in AIDS money (which they got). Here's what the Massachusetts homosexual lobby group MassEquality bragged on their website and in an email to their supporters after their successful lobbying effort last August:

With the rate of HIV infections rising dramatically in Massachusetts, it's clear the fight against AIDS is far from over. The situation is even more dire for younger gay men and people of color: rates for both groups are rising at alarming rates, and communities of color continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. To tackle this problem, we helped win increased funding to address disparities in HIV/AIDS prevention and care in communities of color by $500,000 this year. [Emphasis added]

They certainly cried loudly to our legislators that the HIV rate was "rising dramatically".

Civil unions in Hawaii - their strategy to eventual "gay marriage"

In 1998, nearly 70 percent of Hawaii voters backed a constitutional amendment that authorized the Legislature to define marriage in state law as between one man and one woman. Thus, it's in the hands of the Legislature to do as they see fit regarding marriage.

So this year the homosexual lobby decided to start on the road to "gay marriage" by getting the Legislature to pass a civil unions law. They introduced Bill #444, which would legalize homosexual civil unions in that state.

On Feb. 12, the Hawaii House of Representatives easily passed Bill #444 by a vote of 33-17. This got the attention of the growing Hawaii pro-family movement. On Feb. 22, as the bill was on its way to the Senate, a coalition of church groups held an enormous rally of several thousand people outside the state capitol. It was followed up by an impressive flood of phone calls and emails to Legislative offices by thousands more. Nevertheless, it still took a lot of work to get it stopped in the Senate committee -- and only then by a tie vote!

Outside the Hawaii State Capitol the people made their voices heard loud and clear!

MassResistance on the job around the country

MassResistance has been very active in the marriage issue around the country, especially recently. We've done work with groups in California and Florida on their recent marriage referendums, and New Hampshire in their same-sex marriage battle. Our "What same-sex marriage has done to Massachusetts" has been very effective in those places. We've also worked with groups in Maine, Vermont, and Connecticut, on their marriage and civil unions fights.

In California, David Parker helped pack a one-two punch by going there and personally debunking the homosexual activists' lies about what really happened back here in Massachusetts!

The fight in Hawaii might not be over yet. We're continuing to work with activists and legislators there. We'll keep you posted.

Thousands of Hawaii pro-family activists attend anti-civil unions rally outside of State Capitol on February 22. Can we still do that here?