| Constitutional Amendment 2 | |
| Hawaii Marriage Amendment | |
| Yes: | 285,384 |
| No: | 117,827 |
| Blank: | 8,422 |
| Othertype: | Over votes |
| Other: | 887 |
| Total: | 412,520 |
| Electorate: | 601,404 |
| Turnoutpct: | 67.19 |
| Map: | File:1998 Hawaii Constitutional Amendment 2 election results map by county.svg |
| Mapcaption: | YesNo vote |
| Notes: | Source: [1] |
Constitutional Amendment 2 of 1998 amended the Constitution of Hawaii, granting the state legislature the power to prevent same-sex marriage from being conducted or recognized in Hawaii. Amendment 2 was the first constitutional amendment adopted in the United States that specifically targeted same-sex partnerships.[2]
In 1993, the Hawaii State Supreme Court ruled in Baehr v. Lewin,, that refusing to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples was discriminatory under that state's constitution. However, the court did not immediately order the state to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples; rather, it remanded the case to the trial court and ordered the state to justify its position. After the trial court judge rejected the state's justifications for limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples in 1996 (but stayed his ruling to allow the state to appeal to the Supreme Court again), the Hawaii State Legislature passed a proposed constitutional amendment during the 1997 session that would overrule the Supreme Court's 1993 ruling and allow the Legislature to ban same-sex marriage. This constitutional amendment appeared on the 1998 general election ballot as Constitutional Amendment 2.[3] The question that appeared on the ballot for voters was:[4]
Amendment 2 differed from amendments that followed in other states in that it did not write a ban on same-sex marriage into the state's constitution; rather, it allowed the state legislature to enact such a ban.[5] On November 3, 1998, Hawaii voters approved the amendment by a vote of 69.2–28.6%,[6] and the state legislature exercised its power to ban same-sex marriage.[5]
The language added by the amendment reads:[7]
On October 14, 2013, Hawaii Attorney General David M. Louie stated in a formal legal opinion that Amendment 2 does not prevent the state legislature from legalizing same-sex marriage,[8] which it did in November 2013 with the Hawaii Marriage Equality Act.
On November 5, 2024, Hawaii will hold a referendum to remove the amendment from the state constitution.[9]