HAWAII: Democratic Legislators To Meet With Gov On Special Marriage Session

Democratic legislators will today meet with Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie to strategize on calling a special session to vote on marriage equality.

A spokeswoman for the House of Representatives said Thursday the meeting is to be held at the state Capitol.  The meeting comes more than a week after Abercrombie released an 18-page draft of legislation that would allow marriage licenses to be issued starting Oct. 3 and ceremonies to begin Nov. 1. Also Thursday, several dozen Hawaii businesses endorsed the legislation, including Waikiki hotel operator Aqua Hotels & Resorts and several wedding-related businesses. The businesses aligned themselves with Hawaii United for Marriage, a group advocating a special session.

Hawaii United For Marriage wrote yesterday on their website:

If Governor Abercrombie calls a special session tomorrow, Hawaii lawmakers could vote on the marriage bill in the coming days. And if he doesn’t, our efforts to secure the freedom to marry may be delayed for months, and possibly until 2014. We told you yesterday that our lawmakers are being bombarded with messages from our opponents, urging them to block a special session — and they haven’t backed down. A delay is exactly what they want, which is why they’re ramping up like never before to stop a special session from happening. No matter what happens tomorrow, we won’t back down until we fulfill the promise of aloha for all of Hawaii’s families. We are determined — and I know you are too.

Hawaii is eight hours behind New York, so we may not know the result of today's meeting until quite late tonight.