The cavalcade of angry, ignorant people testifying in Honolulu against the passage of same-sex marriage ought to be ashamed of themselves. So much for the spirit of aloha. Though I’m satisfied that the special session of the state legislature in which 5,000 citizens are planning to testify is being recorded for posterity. This way future generations can put names and faces to the ignorance.
Hawaii should’ve been the first state to pass marriage equality, given its firstness on civil unions. Instead, it’s the 15th state. Maybe.
Even in “paradise,” there are people like this:
Tenari Maafala, the President of Hawaii’s police union and an active police officer with the Honolulu Police Department, who testified that he would never enforce a law requiring same-sex marriage.
“You would have to kill me,” he told the lawmakers.
Maafala said that same-sex marriage is contrary to his religious views and, “I stand by my beliefs.”
Of course no one’s forcing Maafala to marry another man. Nor is anyone asking him to change his religious beliefs regarding the issue (though he probably should). Maafala is compelled to serve and protect all of the various ethnic and religious groups that live in Hawaii — a true melting pot — even though his religion might fall in direct conflict with the traditions of those people. So why not LGBT citizens who want to be married? Pure ignorance and hatred. That’s the difference.