Hawaiis ballot initiative to protect marriage equality in the state has passed, with 52% of voters in favor and 40% opposed. Voters in the Aloha State were asked to repeal the state constitutional amendment allowing the state legislature to ban same-sex marriage, which was originally passed in 1998. Related Barrier-breaking Kim Coco Iwamoto explains how she took down a powerful Democrat Full of energy and love for her community, she talked to LGBTQ Nation about Donald Trump, winning local elections, and helping the homeless. The ballot initiative, or Question 1, read: Shall the state constitution be amended to repeal the legislatures authority to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples? It may have been worded confusingly for some voters, but a yes vote was a vote to protect marriage equality. Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024 Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Im glad that the people of Hawaii voted to remove discrimination from our bill of rights, Jeff Hong, vice president of the ACLU of Hawaii board of directors, told KHON2. Hong said that polls showed that Hawaii voters support marriage equality three to one, but that that support went down when they read the ballot question as it was written, showing that many people might not have understood the language. That kind of double-negative speak is confusing, he said.Same-sex couples challenged the states denial of marriage licenses in 1993, which led the state to enact a ban on same-sex marriage in 1994. The trial court found that the state was discriminating against same-sex couples in 1996, and two years later, voters put language in the state constitution allowing the legislature to ban same-sex marriage. In light of this, the state supreme court reversed the trial court decision.Marriage equality was legalized by the state legislature in 2013, 15 years later. The 2015 Supreme Court Obergefell v. Hodges decision also protects the right of same-sex couples to marry at the federal level, but several states have been repealing their anti-marriage amendments in light of the Courts Dobbs decision, which overturned the federal right to an abortion and showed that the conservative Court could be coming after other groups rights.Voters in California and Colorado also voted this past Tuesday to remove anti-marriage language from their state constitutions.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.