A Hawaii Democratic state lawmaker whose support of same-sex marriage is well-known earlier this month found a note that had been slipped under the front door of his home. It was a death threat. Representative Chris Lee, a Hawaii native who serves the people of Kailua and Waimanalo, says the threat was in response to his support of marriage equality.
“Clearly, when things like this happen, it generally means you’re doing something right,” Lee told Hawaii News Now. “Over the history of difficult issues there’s always going to be people on the fringes who are upset that they’re not getting their way or that people are speaking out against their position, and such is life. Anything worth fighting for carries some inherent risk and there’s certainly no reason to keep quiet because of it.”
Lee, who is 32 and was first elected in 2008, clearly believes same-sex marriage is worth fighting for — his Facebook page is filled with pro-LGBT posts.
“I hope people continue to contact us,” Lee says. “The whole idea behind the governor’s early announcement was so that everybody has a chance to weigh in, and we expect that to happen. We’ve been out in our community talking to folks, fielding phone calls, meeting people in the district and it’s exactly the kind of correspondence that we need to be able to make this sort of decision.”
“Hopefully as this debate continues we’re going to have civil debate that focuses on the merits of the issue rather than devolving into any sort of personal attacks.”
On Wednesday, the Hawaii Senate passed the same-sex marriage bill. Debate in the House begins Thursday. No doubt, Lee will be voting “yes.”