On November 25, 2013, a Native Hawaiian resident of Hawaii filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii against the state. The plaintiff, proceeding pro se, asked the court to enjoin a recently enacted state law that allows same-sex couples to marry, claiming that that the beliefs and culture of Native Hawaiians were violated by the Hawaiian Marriage Equality Act of 2013.

Specifically, the plaintiff claimed that Native Hawaiians had a special relationship with the state of Hawaii and the United States Federal Government. He alleged that this relationship was supported by the Hawaii Admission Act of 1959, the Native Hawaiian Education Act of 1994, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, and many others. He believes that Native Hawaiians have an express right to preserve their culture, value, languages, and religious customs, and that the practice of same-sex marriage is against the moral values of the majority of Native Hawaiians. He claims that the state has breached its duty to the Hawaiian people, and that a court-ordered injunction of the Hawaii Marriage Equality Act of 2013 is a necessary step towards repairing the breach.

The district court (Judge Susan Oki Mollway) did not grant an injunction, and instead issued an order denying as moot all pending orders. The court stated that the plaintiff did not have standing to bring this claim as he was not able to present a particularized injury that he would suffer or any clear constitutional claims that were violated. The plaintiff appealed the decision to the Ninth District Court of Appeals where the case is still ongoing as of April 16, 2015. The Court has received all the parties' briefs and may be waiting to issue a decision pending the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (PB-OH-0003 in this Clearinghouse), which is expected in June 2015.

Megan Dolan - 07/17/2014
David Hamstra - 04/16/2015


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