It’s better than what was there before.

Besides this point, the Hawaii legislation is unusual — within the US context — insofar as it is explicitly available both to same-sex and opposite-sex couples. Data on how many Hawaiian heterosexuals opt for the new CUs in preference to marriage could be useful to have as the debate about government recognition of marriage slowly grinds on at the national level.

(Apparently PACSes — which are gender neutral — have proven extremely popular with heterosexual couples in France, even though the PACS legislation was originally devised as a remedy for homosexual couples who aren’t allowed civil marriage under French law.)

When the wife and I were but high school seniors, almost 20 years ago, we were *sure* we were going to civilly unite in Hawaii right after our college graduations and have a really excellent honeymoon. Lots of things went wrong with that plan, but I’m glad there’s real hope in Hawaii now.