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Same-sex marriage officially cleared another hurdle in Hawaii Friday.
Hawaii's House of Representatives approved the bill legalizing gay marriage 30-19 after a
nearly 12-hour long special session. It now heads back to the Senate for final approval. (Via
KITV) Democratic Governor Neil Abercrombie has
hinted he would quickly sign the bill into law once it gets the go-ahead from the Senate.
This would make Hawaii the 15th state to legalize same-sex marriage — (Via YouTube / Neil
Abercrombie) That is, if Illinois Governor Pat Quinn doesn't
sign Illinois' marriage equality bill first. (Via PBS)
Abercrombie also said in a written statement released just before the House's vote that
he is "confident the Senate will address the bill in the same spirit as the House." (Via
WESH) But the measure didn't pass without a little
bit of drama. Hawaii state Representative Jo Jordan, who
is openly lesbian, voted against the bill on the House floor Wednesday, making her the
first known openly gay lawmaker to vote against same-sex marriage legislation. (Via YouTube
/ Rep. Jo Jordan) As for the reason, she told Honolulu Magazine she
doubts the law's strength. "I had come to the decision that SB1 needed to amended. It
wasn't protective enough for everybody." While on the other side of the vote, Representative
Kaniela Ing reportedly quoted rapper Macklemore's song "Same Love" during his argument in favor
of the bill. (Via Wikimedia Commons / M6maing) And in a pretty rare move, the House also
allowed the public to speak during the debate. NBC reports more than 1,000 people spoke over
five days for a grand total of 56 hours in what some are calling a public or citizens'
"filibuster." Most of the people who spoke were apparently against same-sex marriage.
But after all the outbursts and disagreements were resolved and the vote was cast, House
Majority Leader Scott Saiki reportedly admitted, "If the House can survive this, it can survive
anything." (Via KHON) As it stands, the measure would allow same-sex
couples to marry starting on Dec. 2. The Senate is expected to reconvene Tuesday to vote on
the House version of the bill.