Hawaii amended its constitution in 1998 to allow the legislature to restrict marriage to different-sex couples.
This did not, however, alter the Court's understanding that Article 12 protects only different-sex couples.
If civil unions were permitted for different-sex couples, we might have one.
It follows the same regulations as the Marriage Act (for different-sex couples), though excluding the right to take the spouse's name and the right of adoption.
In doing so, the court upheld the state of Minnesota's right to restrict marriage to different-sex couples.
It's not like we encourage different-sex couples who want to get married not to.