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Star AdvertiserThinking back to 1998, Renae Hamilton says she can recall the bitter and divisive campaign she went through in trying to gain marriage rights for same-sex couples through the ballot box.
Civil unions provisions
» Allows all couples regardless of sex to form a civil union, a legal status with all the rights, benefits, protections and responsibilities as traditional marriage.
» Clarifies that because civil unions would not be recognized under federal law, certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code applying to husbands and wives in Hawaii apply with the same force and effect to partners in civil unions.
» Family Court will have jurisdiction in matters of annulment, divorce and separation in civil unions, as the court does over marriages.
» Effective date of Jan. 1, when the first civil unions could take place.
"You almost have flashbacks of it -- of how ugly it was -- in many ways, on every island," said Hamilton, 51, executive director of the YWCA of Kauai.
Yesterday, as she and her partner, Noelle Cambeilh, witnessed history with the governor's approval of a measure to legalize civil unions, Hamilton said those bitter memories can now be replaced with happier ones.
"It's, I think, a real affirmation and belief of: You don't give up -- things can happen," she said. "It's been a long road, but through people's efforts across the state, today is an amazing day."
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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110224_Today_is_an_amazing_day.html
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