It should come as no shock that a divorced heterosexual Republican governor would veto a bill that would have provided same-sex couples many of the same benefits and rights given to married heterosexual couples. Join me below the fold for the latest state to move away from marriage equality. No, it's not in the Deep South or the Bible Belt. It's from our island state, Hawaii.
In case you didn't hear (what with summer vacations being upon us and the long holiday weekend), Hawaii governor Linda Lingle, Hawaii's first Republican governor since 1962, yesterday vetoed the Civil Unions Bill (HB 444). Lingle, whose legalized heterosexual marriage failed, made a statement explaining her veto in which she said in part:
I am vetoing this bill because I have become convinced that this issue is of such significant societal importance that it deserves to be decided directly by all the people of Hawaii.
Hey, makes sense to me: leave civil rights up to the oppressors. Wanna see if women ought to have the right to vote? Leave it up to the men!
Of course one wonders if Lingle vetoed the bill more because she doesn't like the thought of same-sex marriage:
I have been open and consistent in my opposition to same gender marriage and find that HB 444 is essentially marriage by another name.
Or because, damn it, she just didn't like that the Democrats were able to bring the bill to her desk:
The legislative maneuvering that brought HB 444 to an 11th hour vote, on the final day of the session, via a suspension of the rules, after legislators lead the public to believe that the bill was dead, was wrong and unfair to the public they represent. After eight years of observing members of the Majority Party manipulate the legislative process when it suits them, I initially accepted their actions as business as usual. That was wrong too.
Regardless of the reasons, Michael A. Jones over at change.org has it right when he said, "Let this be the legacy of Linda Lingle."
Let this also be a warning to Democratic voters the next time they consider putting a Republican in office [cough, cough, Scott Brown, cough, cough].