Overview
The case eventually made its way to the Hawaii Supreme Court which sent the case back to the lower Court of Appeals. The Hawaii Supreme Court also ruled that the state must show compelling reason for denying same-sex couples equal access to legal marriage and its many benefits.
The newest phase of this case heard oral arguments in September, 1996, with the state arguing against same-sex marriage on the grounds that such marriages did not provide a good home for such couples' children. When cross-examined, however, most of the states expert witnesses admitted that current research finds that the makeup of the family is less of an indicator to a child's well-being than a loving home. Under cross-examination both the state and defendants' expert witnesses reported that current evidence shows that the children of same-sex couples are as happy as those raised in a heterosexual home. In fact, even the state's witnesses admitted that the denial of benefits to same-sex couples were a considerable burden on the children of such couples.
With the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in September 1996, states do not have to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states (if a state should legalize such marriages). DOMA also denies federal benefits to such couples.
As such, DOMA is almost assuredly going to be taken to court because it sets up a direct conflict with the US Constitution's Full Faith and Credit Clause under which states must recognize agreements such as marriages, divorces, child custody decisions, etc. performed in other states. It also sets up the unusual situation whereby an American lesbian may marry a Filipino lesbian in Hawaii. Although the state would thus treat the Filipino as the spouse of the American citizen and thus advance that woman's status as a legal resident, DOMA would deny this woman the citizenship granted to the foreign spouses of American citizens.
Thus, Kentucky does not have to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Although Kentucky itself does not have a state law (as about 15 other states currently do) making such marriages expressly forbidden or defining marriage as between one woman and one man (as DOMA does), DOMA could be used to invalidate any future Kentuckians' marriages in Hawaii.