Tu, Nov 12, 2013. Homosexual marriage bill in Hawaii senate to be considered for final passage before going to the governor.
Gay Activist Allegedly Punched State Senator at Rally
Submitted by Pat Beekman on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 00:01
 Senator Mike Gabbard |
An 80-year-old gay rights activist allegedly punched Senator Mike Gabbard, 62, in the chest during the pro-traditional-marriage rally on January 17. Senator Gabbard is one of the minority of Hawaii state legislators who has consistently voted against same-sex civil unions and marriage in Hawaii.
Gabbard said the activist, Ward Stewart, punched him without saying a word. He also tried to jam a protest sign in Gabbard’s face, whereupon he was restrained by bystanders.
Stewart avers that he merely poked Gabbard in the chest and as an 80-year-old man, one hardly needs bystanders to restrain him.
However, a court has issued a temporary restraining order against Stewart, ordering him to stay away from Gabbard. The senator is considering pressing criminal charges.
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Senator Gabbard said he recognized Stewart instantly when he looked under his straw hat at the rally. Eighteen years before, Stewart and other LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) supporters picketed Gabbard’s restaurant for what Stewart says were Gabbard’s anti-gay views. Both men agree that the picketing caused the restaurant, in the Moiliili Down to Earth, to close. Gabbard says that at the time, he employed a gay man who was an excellent employee. Stewart states unequivocally that Gabbard refused to employ homosexuals.
Stewart says the fact that he and his partner, George Vye, have been together for 54 years, combined with his mere presence at the rally, got Gabbard’s “dander up no end, I’m pleased to say.” He continued that Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona, who was at the rally, “wants to convert this into a Christian state.” Mayor Mufi Hannemann, said Ward, went to Harvard and “learned how to be a homophobe.”
Returning to the subject of Gabbard, Stewart said, “He’s very cuckoo, and he’s very ugly, and very destructive.”
Stewart and this writer are on the same email list for the Oahu Macintosh users group. Macintosh, Mac for short, is the brand name of Apple computers. The e-list is a way for Mac owners to keep in touch on related events and topics, with the idea of gaining more expertise on our computers. A large part of this includes asking fellow e-list members if they know the solution to a problem that one is unable to solve on one’s own.
Back in September when I ran into a website problem, I wrote to the list members:
“Does anyone know why the top line of the table in the following article is lighter than the others? I need to correct it if I can find the solution.
“http://hawaiipoliticalinfo.org/?q=node/1874”
Stewart dashed off a message to me and everyone else on the e-list:
“Such egregiously political junk seems to me to have little place on the HMAUS board. What next from the wing-nuts -- birth conspiracies, commie plots and muslims in the white house -- divisive, dim-witted and irrelevant.”
The above are our respective complete messages. We were not acquainted with each other at the time. No further explanation on what Stewart found so offensive was given.
Link:
Gabbard gets court order against activist [The Honolulu Advertiser]
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