Support came from all sides. It came from faith leaders. It came from labor leaders. It came from Filipinos for Affirmative Action, from the Hawaiian Sovereignty leaders, from the NAACP, the Japanese American Citizens League, the 'Ilio'ulaokalani Coalition, and the PA'I Foundation. It came from Advocates For Consumer Rights, the ACLU of Hawaii, the American Friends Service Committee, Hawaii Area Program (Quakers), Americans For Democratic Action, Aikane Investments, Catholics For Marriage Equality, Children of Lesbians & Gays Everywhere (COLAGE), Church of the Crossroads UCC, Church Of the Holy Innocents, Community Alliance on Prisons, Da Moms, the Democratic Party of Hawaii, the Democratic Women's Caucus, Dignity Hawaii, Dignity USA. It came from the First Unitarian Church, the GLBT Democratic Caucus, from the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, Hawaii Friends for Civil Rights, Hawaii Government Employees Association, Hawaiian Independence Alliance, the Hawaii State AFL-CIO, the Hawaii Women's Political Caucus, Hui Ea Council of Sovereigns, from Hui O Na Ike, the Interfaith Alliance of Hawaii, from Kailua United Methodist Church, the League of Women Voters, Living Nation, Mana Hawaii, Metropolitan Community Church, Musicians' Association of Hawaii Local 677, National Association of Social Workers, Nuclear Free & Independent Pacifc-Hawaii, Nursing Advocates & Mentors, Rabbi Peter Schaktman of Temple Emanu-El, the Spiritual Nation of Ku, Unite HERE Local 5, the UCC, University of Hawaii, and the Women's Political Caucus of the Democratic Party.

Today it came from the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr coalition:

HONOLULU - The reluctance of the Hawaii State Senate to pass HB 444 which “Extends the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities of spouses in a marriage to partners in a civil union" is producing an embarrassing tsunami of international media with more than 400,000 Google hits now online. MLK-Hawaii president, Pat Anthony said, “Were Dr. King here today, he would be speaking in support of civil unions." Anthony quoted Dr. King: “A right delayed is a right denied,” and continued, “The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Coalition-Hawaii strongly urges the Hawaii State Senate to lift up their eyes and see that this inequity can no longer stand. Pull this bill out of committee and vote for Civil Rights 'with liberty and justice for all'."

And in the end, christian hate and corrupt political cowardice still won.

State Sen. Brian Taniguchi, D-10th (Manoa, McCully), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary and Government Operations Committee, said he is leaning against recalling the bill from his committee, where it stalled in a 3-3 vote last month.

...

The bill, which passed the state House last month, would give same-sex partners the same rights, benefits and responsibilities as married couples under state law. It would also recognize civil unions, domestic partnerships and same-sex marriages performed in other states as civil unions in Hawai'i.

...

Several senators have said they back civil unions but do not want to set a precedent for other bills by pulling it from committee. After Hanabusa appeared to shift on the issue, other senators who belong to her leadership faction also began to wobble, and Taniguchi's opposition would give them political cover to explain their reversal.

The State Senate voted 18-6 to kill the bill rather than pull it from committee, three votes short of the nine required to pull the bill to the floor.

The State Senate killed a bill that would have hurt no one, denied no one rights, and which would have protected families. From Tony Wagner, HRC's Western Regional representative, who has been here the last few weeks:

Today's vote helps no one in the state of Hawaii. It protects no one's marriage. It grants dignity to no couple's relationship. It does nothing to ensure that all families receive the equal rights and responsibilities they deserve.

Thomas Paine said it well:

Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst; every other species of tyranny is limited to the world we live in; but this attempts to stride beyond the grave, and seeks to pursue us into eternity.

EDIT: Many thanks and kudos to Senators Hooser, Rosalyn Baker, Suzanne Chun Oakland, Carol Fukunaga, Les Ihara, and Michelle Kidani for their courage in standing up to pressure from their own colleagues, near-blackmail from Senate President Hanabusa, from the christian hate groups who flooded phone lines and airwaves with their message of bigotry. Blessings to those brave six who rose to stand with the allies of equal rights.

garyhooser has put up his remarks at today's Senate session here.

My diary at Pam's House Blend is here.

Thank you all for supporting me, for supporting US, during this fight. Just remember, it ain't over until the fat lady sings, and I'm too busy raising my fist and yelling to bust out with "Juliet's Waltz Song" in the key of F right now.