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Hawaii Business Roundtable Steps Back A Bit From Opposing Civil Unions, but Not Far Enough

06/24/10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
‘We oppose discrimination, but we oppose a law that would reverse a discriminatory practice.’ The Hawaii Business Roundtable has issued a follow up letter stating that they oppose discrimination in all forms, but that they are opposed to the civil unions law before Governor Linda Lingle right now. What they do not seem to be willing to explain is why they are opposed to this bill while being opposed to discrimination in all forms.

Following the initial letter and this one, some twenty members of the HBR have distanced themselves from it and some have even come out in favor of civil unions. HBR’s Executive Director, Gary Kai, has continued to urge Governor Lingle to veto the civil unions bill without any real explanation for how he is suppose to be supportive of diversity.

Joe Solomnese of the Human Rights Campaign stated following this:

“Business leaders recognize that fostering an atmosphere of diversity and inclusion is the best way to attract, recruit and retain the best talent Hawaii has to offer. We urge Governor Lingle to do for the entire state of Hawaii what leaders of Hawaii’s top businesses are already doing for their employees and sign civil unions into law. We’re proud to have played a role in spurring the action of the Hawaii Business Roundtable today that was a direct result of weeks of hard work by local advocates including Equality Hawaii, the LGBT Caucus of the Hawaii Democratic Party, PFLAG (Oahu) and Pride Alliance, among others.”

Of course, the fact that the HBR has not retracted their letter or their call for a veto of civil unions in the state, it seems difficult for Somonese to claim any kind of victory with less than twenty business leaders breaking away from the HBR to back civil unions. Perhaps if pressure had brought about a complete reversal or a decision by the HBR to declare neutrality over civil unions, the victory would be more substantial.

Alan Spector, Equality Hawaii Legislative Affairs’ Co-Chair, stated:

“Following the original call for veto by Gary Kai and HBR, we knew we had to mobilize our friends within the business community. With the help of the Human Rights Campaign and their national network of supportive businesses, we were able to apply the appropriate pressure and turn a potential devastating blow into one of our strongest arguments. Businesses know that treating their workforce with dignity and respect helps their bottom line and we urge Governor Lingle to do the same for the state of Hawaii.”

What the HBR has stated is that they were only showing their concern about civil unions, but did not actually step back from it nor show their neutrality over the issue.