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Posted: Thursday, August 9th, 2012 8:50 AM HST

Same sex marriage ban upheld

By Ken Hupp - 67AM KPUA News

Senior U.S. District Judge Alan Kay has upheld Hawai`i laws banning same-sex marriages. The judge issued a 117-page decision which throws out the lawsuit filed by a lesbian couple and a gay man who contended the state laws violate the U.S. Constitution’s due process and equal protection provisions. In his ruling, Kay wrote that Hawai`i’s marriage laws reserving marriage to a man and a woman “are not unconstitutional.” Kay said if the traditional institution of marriage is to be restructured, it should be done by a democratically-elected legislature or the people through a constitutional amendment. The attorney for the plaintiffs said he will appeal Kay’s ruling.