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Written by Lisa Neff, Staff writer
Aug 11, 2010
Tambry Young and Suzanne Kalikolehua King with Shylar.
Danny Robinson and Allen Castro
Kathleen Sands and Linda Hamilton Krieger
If was only a matter of time before lawyers filed a lawsuit with “v. Lingle” in the title.
Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, in early July, vetoed a civil unions bill that would have extended to partners many of the benefits of a civil marriage.
Attorneys with Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union immediately pledged to sue. They filed their case, Young v. Lingle, July 29.
“We had hoped we’d never have to file this lawsuit, but the political process has failed the thousands of families who need the protections civil unions would have provided,” said Lambda attorney Jennifer C. Pizer. “Every Hawaii family should be treated equally under the law, but because the state refuses to do that, we’re forced to go to the courts.”
The lawsuit, filed in the Hawaii First Circuit Court, argues that the state violates its own constitution by denying same-sex couples important rights and protections readily available to heterosexual couples through marriage.
“Lingle vetoed HB 444, thereby failing in her sworn duty to do what’s best for the state she governs. To add insult to injury, she would now put fundamental rights up for a popular vote,” said Lois Perrin, ACLU of Hawaii legal director.
The suit was filed on behalf of six same-sex couples:
Tambry Young and Suzanne King
Tambry Young, 46, and Suzanne Kalikolehua King, 50, have been together for nearly 30 years. Together they’re raising a daughter, Shylar, and as a committed couple have weathered family deaths and other challenges. When they began planning to have a child in the 1990s, their medical provider’s policy barred them from receiving assistance because they were not married. As reciprocal beneficiaries the couple has faced barriers to establishing Kalikolehua’s legal relationship to their child and to having Kalikolehua take the family’s last name.
Danny Robinson and Allen Castro
Danny Robinson, 56, and Allen Castro, 60, have been together since 1976. Castro has longstanding ties to the Big Island – his Portuguese grandparents were born and raised on a Pãhala sugar plantation. Castro and Robinson long to solemnize their relationship through a state-sanctioned ceremony in their home state and they believe a comprehensive, formal status like civil unions would lead others to a greater understanding that they are a devoted and legitimate family.
Kathleen Sands and Linda Krieger
Kathleen Sands, 55, and Linda Hamilton Krieger, 56, have been in a committed relationship since 2004. They were married in Massachusetts in 2007 and registered as reciprocal beneficiaries when they returned home that same year. Krieger and Sands both teach at the University of Hawaii at Mãnoa. As a spiritual couple, they are pained that the state favors religious views that discriminate against same-sex couples while ignoring religious views that, like their own, favor equality and inclusion.
Louise Esselstyn and Robie Lovinger
Louise Esselstyn, 65, and Robie Lovinger, 56, have lived in Hawaii since the 1980s. They have been together 17 years and were first in line to register as reciprocal beneficiaries in 1997. Esselstyn suffers from multiple sclerosis, is unable to work and relies on domestic partner benefits from Lovinger’s employer. The couple worries that state law leaves them vulnerable to losing their home if Esselstyn needs nursing home care and the state demands repayment of her Medicaid costs in ways not required of spouses. The couple also has anxiety about respect for their legal rights as Esselstyn grapples with her illness and in the event either has other health problems.
Sean Smith and Kale Taylor
Sean Smith, 32, and Kale Taylor, 29, met in 2005 when Smith was stationed in Hawaii with the Army. Following a tour of duty in Afghanistan, Smith was discharged under “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Taylor and his family are from Hawaii, and Smith and Taylor plan to adopt and raise children together. The couple worries that securing their relationships to their children will be made more difficult by the inferior rights afforded to them as reciprocal beneficiaries. This inferior status also did not allow Smith to pay in-state tuition for a period of time when he returned to Hawaii from Afghanistan.
Jill and Pauline Guillermo-Togawa
Jill, 57, and Pauline, 58, Guillermo-Togawa have been a committed couple for nine years, registered as reciprocal beneficiaries in 2005, and married in California in 2008. Together they’re raising their adopted daughter, 4-year-old Carmel. They believe Jill’s extended family and their network of friends in Honolulu, as well as the local culture in which Jill grew up, will provide support and teach the values they wish for Carmel. But they worry that the third-class status Hawaii affords them makes their family vulnerable, will limit their ability to adopt a second child, and will create insecurity for Carmel as she begins her school years.
