by Bob Barr

About the author: Bob Barr is a U.S. representative from Georgia and a sponsor of the Defense of Marriage Act.

The enduring significance of the institution of marriage was posed in three lines from Samuel Butler's epic, Hudibras, well over three centuries ago: "For in / What stupid age or nation / Was marriage ever out of fashion""

Well, we now know the answer to Butler's query: Hawaii, 1996.

Iwas stunned to learn that Hawaii is close to giving legal recognition to homosexual marriages. It all began in 1991 when three homosexual couples sued the state of Hawaii, arguing that Hawaii's exclusion of same-sex couples from the statutory definition of marriage was invalid either under the U.S. Constitution or the Hawaii Constitution. When the lawsuit goes to trial in the summer of 1996, a Hawaii trial court is...