Hawaii Marriage Bill Advances

 Via Hawaii News Now:

The House Judiciary and Finance committees have passed SB 1, the "Hawaii Marriage Equality Act of 2013" with an amendment that expands an exemption to include religious facilities that are "for profit", similar to existing Connecticut law. Effective date has been changed to December 2, 2013. It now goes to the House floor for a second reading and full vote. If any amendments are introduced to the bill, House representatives will be given 48 hours to review those changes before a third and final vote on the floor.

NOTE: I've been blogging for 15 hours after getting back to NYC on the red-eye at 6AM. I'll pick up whatever happens next in the morning.

UPDATE: More from Zack Ford.

After five grueling days of testimony from thousands of individuals, the Hawaii House Judicial and Finance Committees — meeting jointly — advanced marriage equality legislation to the full chamber. The committees added three amendments to the bill. The first set the start date for December 2, 2013. The second removed section 572-C from the bill, which asserted parents’ rights and responsibilities including paternity, maternity, and parentage presumptions based on marriage. Lastly, the committee added religious protections similar to those included in Connecticut’s marriage equality law, protecting religious organizations from having to participate in the solemnization of a same-sex marriage.

UPDATE II: Now you ALL can go to bed.