couples to marry infringe upon and discriminate against this fundamental right. Just as the Supreme Court compelled states to allow interracial marriage by recognizing the claimed right as part of the fundamental constitutional right to marry, of privacy and of intimate association so should states be compelled now to recognize the fundamental right of homosexuals to do the same. If Baehr ultimately leads to the legalization of same-sex marriage or broad, marriage like domestic partnership in Hawaii, the impact of that legalization will be felt widely. Marriage recognition principles derived from choice-of-law and full-faith-and-credit rules probably would be invoked to recognize same-sex Hawaiian marriages as valid in other states. The impact of Hawaii's decision will immediately impactmarriage laws in all of the United States. The full faith and creditclause of the U.S. Constitution provides that full faith and creditshall be given to the "public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state."Marriage qualifies for recognition under each section:---1) creation of marriage is "public act" because it occurs pursuant to a statutory scheme and is performed by a legally designated official, and because a marriage is an act by the state;2) a marriage certificate is a "record" with a outlined legal effect,showing that a marriage has been validly contracted, that the spousesmeet the qualifications of the marriage statutes, and they have dulyentered matrimony. Public records of lesser consequence, such as birthcertificates and automobile titles have been accorded full faith andcredit;3) celebrating a marriage is a "judicial proceeding" where judges,court clerks, or justices of the peace perform the act of marriage.It would seem evident that if heterosexual couples use Article IV as asafety net and guarantee for their wedlock then that same right shouldbe given to homosexual couples. --- This Article has often bee...
