Kaulike No Na Mea A Pau: Toward Queer Justice in Hawaii
Aliiolani Hale, Supreme Court Courtroom
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
5:30 to 7:00 PM
October is Honolulu Pride Month and this public program at Aliiolani Hale celebrates the journey toward marriage equality for all in Hawaii’s uniquely multicultural community. Professor Troy Andrade of the William S. Richardson School of Law moderates a panel discussion about the Hawaii Supreme Court’s groundbreaking decision in Baehr v. Lewin (1993), in which Hawaii’s Supreme Court was the first court in the United States, and the world, to recognize that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. Reflecting on the history and the challenges and opportunities ahead, are honorable and distinguished guests: Associate Justice Sabrina S. McKenna, former Associate Justice Steven H. Levinson, civil rights attorney and former Associate Judge Daniel R. Foley, and Dean Hamer, Co-Director of Lei Pua Ala Queer Histories of Hawaii. The program coincides with the debut of a new traveling exhibit, “Kaulike No Na Mea A Pau: Toward Queer Justice in Hawaii,” a collaboration between Lei Pua Ala Queer Histories of Hawaii and the King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center. Mahalo to our partners and sponsors: Lei Pua Ala Queer Histories of Hawaii, the Mellon Foundation, and Hawaii Council for the Humanities
Associate Justice Sabrina S. McKenna
Justice McKenna has served as an Associate Justice since March 2011, and is the first openly LGBTQ+ Asian American to serve on a state court of last resort. Justice McKenna graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she played for the Rainbow Wahine Basketball team as an early beneficiary of Title IX. She received her Juris Doctorate from the William S. Richardson School of Law, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. Justice McKenna worked as a civil litigator, corporate counsel and assistant professor of law at UH, before becoming a state trial court judge in 1993. As a trial judge, she presided over civil, criminal and family cases, and served as Senior Judge of the Family Court of the First Circuit. Last year, she received the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award and in 2021 the Stonewall Award, both from the American Bar Association. She teaches state constitutional law at the Law School and is also a Justice Pro Tem for the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Associate Justice Steven H. Levinson
Justice Levinson was an Associate Justice of Hawaii’s Supreme Court from 1992 to 2008, serving for 17 years. He was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, and received his Bachelor’s in Political Science from Stanford University and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School. After law school in 1971, Justice Levinson moved to Honolulu to intern as a law clerk at the Supreme Court. He then went into private practice at prominent Honolulu law firms for nearly two decades, until he was appointed a circuit court judge of the Hawaii First Circuit Court (Criminal Division) by Governor John Waihee in 1989. Justice Levinson has served on the board of directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, and nonprofit organizations like Equality Hawaii, which advocated for the passage of same-sex marriage in 2013.
Associate Judge and Civil Rights Attorney Daniel R. Foley
Judge Foley served as Associate Judge of the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals from 2000 to 2016. He received Bachelor and Juris Doctorate degrees from the University of San Francisco. Since 1974, Foley has had a diverse legal career as a litigator, negotiatior, mediator, and judge. He was a prominent civil rights lawyer for almost two decades, including his time as Legal Director of the ACLU of Hawaii. Judge Foldey also drafted the rules and regulations of the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission and taught civil rights litigation at Richardson Law School. Prior to his law practice in Hawaii, Judge Foldey spent eight years as legal counsel for different government entities in Micronesia, assisting with sovereignty efforts. He currently serves as a nonresident Justice of the Palau Supreme Court.
Dean Hamer
Dean Hamer is Co-Director of Lei Pua Ala Queer Histories of Hawaii, a multidimensional project to document and commemorate Hawaii’s history of gender and sexual diversity, and co-curator of the new traveling exhibit “Kaulike No Na Mea A Pau: Toward Queer Justice in Hawaii.” Dean is a graduate of Trinity College and Harvard Medical School, scientist emeritus at the National Institutes of Health, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, and New York Times Book-of-the-year author known for his many contributions to our understanding of human sexuality and gender.
Disclaimer: While the Hawaii State Judiciary provides a venue for diverse discussion, speakers’ remarks do not represent opinions of the Judiciary.