Calling it a dream come true, retired state Supreme Court Justice Steven Levinson officiated his first same-sex wedding Monday afternoon — two decades after he wrote the decision that paved the way for Hawaii’s historic marriage equality law, which took effect earlier that morning.
"I’ve never been happier. After a good number of civil unions over the years, I’m ecstatic to be able to officiate on Day One," Levinson said shortly before marrying Renea Stewart and Lisa Veneri in a private ceremony at the Hilton Waikiki Beach Hotel.
"This is a day that has been a long time coming," he added. "A lot of people have been waiting with great anticipation for it, and there’s a lot of celebration and joy in the air, obviously."
As of 3 p.m. Monday, 179 same-sex couples had applied for marriage licenses online through the sate Department of Health. Of those, 46 couples married on Monday and had their marriages registered by the department, spokeswoman Janice Okubo said. A couple has 30 days to get married after getting a marriage license.
An overwhelming majority of the married couples comprised two Hawaii residents. Just 49 same-sex couples who applied for marriages licenses identified one or both people as nonresidents, while 130 couples who applied for a license were both from the isles.
Levinson, who in retirement has campaigned for gay marriage, said society is catching up to the idea of equal rights for gay and lesbian couples, citing 16 countries around the world that have legalized same-sex marriage.
"People, I think, now get it — ‘it’ being that love is love and that ultimately the reason we have marriage is so that loving couples can make the ultimate commitment to each other," he said.
Stewart and Veneri said having Levinson officiate their wedding was a "full-circle moment."
Levinson wrote the 1993 court ruling that held that denying marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples was a violation of equal protection under the state Constitution. It produced a backlash nationally, with Congress in 1996 passing the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibited federal benefits from going to same-sex married couples.
"Before we knew him we were standing with him," said Veneri, 50.
Stewart, 44, said the right to marry acknowledges the couple’s contributions to society.
"I think it just really validates that …" she said, trailing off, as Veneri finished her thought: "… that we’re family. Our family is validated."
Gov. Neil Abercrombie last month pulled the state Legislature into a rare special session to respond to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June that legally married gay couples are entitled to federal benefits. Gay couples in Hawaii have been able to enjoy all the rights and benefits of marriage under state law through civil unions but are unable to obtain federal benefits until they can marry.
Lawmakers heard several days of public testimony as hundreds of people from both sides of the same-sex marriage debate converged on the state Capitol.
The Legislature passed a bill that includes a religious exemption so churches and other religious organizations have broader discretion to refuse to host gay weddings and receptions.
Abercrombie signed the legislation into law Nov. 13, which made Hawaii the 15th state plus the District of Columbia to legalize gay marriage. It allowed the state to issue marriage licenses to gay couples beginning Monday.
The state’s registrar of vital statistics, Alvin Onaka, said Monday that he expected the number of initial applicants would largely be residents who have been waiting for same-sex marriage to be legal for a long time.
But as time goes on, "numbers are going to come from outside of Hawaii like they did for civil unions, as well as traditional marriage," Onaka said.
While the number of civil unions can be tracked by chronological certificate numbers — with the first couple receiving certificate No. 1 — same-sex marriage applications are being processed in order from the first day of the year along with marriages between men and women.
"The first is not really apparent to people because the number is from what we started with in January," Onaka said. "We’re treating it as marriage equality, so we’re treating it as we do all marriages."
He said applications were processed without a hitch and that at no time did the department experience any glitches, server outages or other problems that could have prevented couples from applying for marriage licenses. He also was pleased that people received the department’s message to apply online, which meant no long lines at the Health Department building on Punchbowl Street.
"I really think that people were prepared, and those who wanted it did it after midnight," Onaka said, adding that the first application came in at about 12:15 a.m.
He said the first same-sex marriage to be registered in the state was that of the Rev. Jonipher Kwong, pastor of the First Unitarian Church of Honolulu, and his partner of 15 years, Chris Nelson. With Abercrombie in attendance, the couple were married at the First Unitarian Church, just minutes after same-sex weddings became legal.
Six other couples were married at a midnight ceremony hosted by the Sheraton Waikiki and organized by the Hawaii Marriage Equality Celebration Committee to mark the legalization of gay marriage.
On Maui, Temehani Bernard, 31, and Jolene Garcia, 33, were married in a midnight ceremony at a pier at Kahului Harbor.
Bernard said the couple began calling officiants Sunday night, hoping to get married as soon as gay marriages became legal.
"Hawaii represents aloha and good mana, and I think it’s awesome that Hawaii has taken this step," Bernard said.
Legalizing gay marriage here is expected to boost tourism by $217 million over the next three years, according to a University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization study. The bulk of the spending would be on marriage ceremonies and honeymoons.
Keane Akao, managing partner for Perfectly Planned Hawaii, a full-service destination wedding and event planning firm dedicated to the LGBT market, said his company has been busy fielding calls since the law was approved last month.
"It’s been very busy for us. We don’t know exactly what the market is going to hold for us. However, we think it’s going to be a major potential market for Hawaii as a destination," Akao said.
