Hawaii lawmakers are making a special trip to the Capitol on Monday to decide whether to legalize gay marriage.

The session was called by Gov. Neil Abercrombie, a Democratic supporter of same-sex marriage who said last month that he wanted lawmakers "to focus squarely on this important issue."

The measure before lawmakers is the Hawaii Marriage Equality Act of 2013. It's based on earlier proposed legislation and includes a religious-freedom provision clarifying "that unless a religious organization allows use of its facilities or grounds by the general public for weddings for a profit, such organization shall not be required to make its facilities or grounds available for solemnization of any marriage celebration."

The legislation is expected to easily pass the Senate and appears to have enough votes to clear the House, according to Hawaii News Now,which says the margin could be tight in the lower chamber. Both chambers are controlled by Democrats.

Same-sex marriage is legal in 14 states, plus the District of Columbia. The Supreme Court's June ruling in U.S. v. Windsor has touched off a wave of new lawsuits targeting state laws restricting marriage as a union between a man and a woman.