The state Senate briefly revived civil unions yesterday but then quickly voted to amend the bill, a move that killed the bill for this session but led to new promises from majority Democrats that they would try again next year.

The move was engineered by Senate Democratic leaders after it became apparent yesterday morning that supporters of the bill had the votes necessary to pull it from the state Senate Judiciary and Government Operations Committee, where it has been stalled since February. A motion to recall was successful yesterday, but so was an amendment, which killed the bill because the deadline to alter bills had passed and the session ends today.

Advocates for the bill, wearing white T-shirts, and opponents, wearing red, had packed the Senate gallery for the civil-unions debate, and the move came together so swiftly in private caucus that it caught many off guard.

"I'm very disappointed," said Alan Spector, the co-chair of the Family Equality Coalition, which fought for civil unions. "But of course we keep this alive. I think this was a very successful year. From a community organizing and political organizing perspective, we have put the Hawai'i marriage equality movement back on the map again."

Dennis Arakaki, the interim executive director of the Hawaii Family Forum, worried that the Senate had the votes to pass the bill today and was planning a final flood of opposition.

"It was a pleasant surprise," he said. "We were fully expecting them to pull the bill and we thought maybe we had an outside chance of getting them to vote the bill down tomorrow."

Arakaki said opponents realize the issue remains alive for next session.

"I think they made a public declaration to work on it, and so did we. There are some people on our side who say, 'No compromise.' But I don't think we can come with that kind of attitude," he said.

Next session, the amended bill would have to pass final reading in the Senate and cross over to the state House. The House voted 33-17 in February to approve a bill that would have allowed same-sex couples to enter into civil unions and receive the same rights, benefits and responsibilities as married couples under state law. The bill would have also recognized civil unions, domestic partnerships and same-sex marriages performed in other states as civil unions in Hawai'i.

MARRIAGE RULED OUT

The Senate amendment makes it clear that the bill does not equate civil unions with marriage and would allow both same-sex and heterosexual couples to enter into civil unions. The language on marriage is intended to clearly distinguish the bill from a similar civil-unions bill passed in Connecticut that the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled was discriminatory, leading to the legalization of same-sex marriage there last year. Advocates had suggested expanding the bill to cover all couples when it looked as if the House version would not advance in the Senate.

Yesterday's action was considered extraordinary even by political veterans. State Sen. Brickwood Galuteria, D-12th (Waikiki, Ala Moana, Downtown), marveled at the "strange bedfellows, no pun intended," of senators who pulled it off. The 16-9 vote to pass the amendment came from a coalition of Democratic leaders, Democratic senators who had publicly opposed civil unions, and the chamber's two Republicans.

State Senate Minority Leader Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), acknowledged under questioning by state Senate Majority Leader Gary Hooser, D-7th (Kaua'i, Ni'ihau), that he was voting for the amendment specifically to kill the bill this session. Hemmings, who opposes civil unions, described his vote as a "paradox."

State Sen. Jill Tokuda, D-24th (Kailua, Kane'ohe), sought to reassure senators that Democratic leaders intend to work on the issue in the interim and will attempt to pass a bill next session.

"I ask that you consider the big picture and all of the options available to us," she said. "Let's keep our focus on what will get us to the end of what we would all like to see — equal rights for all."

SEN. IHARA'S EFFORTS

But senators who wanted the bill to pass this session portrayed the amendment as a transparent effort to kill the bill and delay equality and justice for gays. Next session, the debate will likely be influenced by election-year politics and the bill could be harder to move.

"I firmly believe that the time is now because, in my view, like justice, equality delayed is equality denied," said state Sen. Rosalyn Baker, D-5th (W. Maui, S. Maui).

Hooser made an unsuccessful motion to recall the bill from committee in March and it appeared that the issue was dead. But advocates for the bill kept pressuring senators and staged sign-waving, vigils and rallies at the state Capitol.

State Sen. Les Ihara, Jr., D-9th (Kapahulu, Kaimuki, Palolo), was able to gather the votes needed to pull the bill to the floor and it looked early yesterday as if it might actually pass.

"If you vote for the amendment," Ihara told his colleagues, "you are saying that discrimination will continue for another day, perhaps years, and that equality will be deferred, I believe for years.

"So I want to be clear that those who support equal rights, civil rights, those who want to end discrimination, this is your chance."