Hawai’i SSM Bill Passes Both Houses, Will Become Law

The state of Hawaii has legalized same-sex marriage. The bill has passed both houses of the Hawaii legislature, and the governor, who has supported the bill from the beginning, is expected to sign the bill. The law passed with amendments protecting the religious freedom of clergy whose beliefs prevent them from solemnizing same-sex marriages:

(3) Protects religious freedom and liberty by: (A) Ensuring that any clergy, minister, priest, rabbi, officer of any religious denomination or society, or religious society not having clergy providing solemnizations that is authorized to perform solemnizations shall not be required to solemnize any marriage or civil union that is against their religious beliefs or faith, in accordance with the Hawaii state constitution and the United States Constitution; and ( Clarifying that a religious organization or nonprofit organization operated, supervised, or controlled by a religious organization shall not be required to provide goods, services, or its facilities or grounds for the solemnization or celebration of a marriage or civil union that is in violation of its religious beliefs or faith.

I expect that the church’s newsroom will probably comment on this soon.