During his floor address, Hee read from an email he received from Edith Windsor. The 84-year-old widow is behind the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision to strike down a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act, after Justice's ruled the federal ban on same-sex marriage benefits was unconstitutional.

"I'm writing to ask you to do whatever it takes to get the bill passed, no matter what, even a law with religious exemptions. If no equal marriage law passes in Hawai'i, it will surely be a loss for Hawai'i, but it will also be a loss for the rest of the country since we need to keep building momentum toward full equality state by state by state. So, please do whatever you can to make sure some bill passes in Hawai'i -- even if an imperfect one -- so that gay couples in Hawai'i can have the same rights that I have in New York, and so that Hawai'i becomes the next state to join marriage equality," Sen. Hee read.

Senate Minority Leader Sam Slom countered saying the Supreme Court did not "give it's stamp of approval on same-sex marriages" and challenged the strength of the bill's religious exemptions.

"It is not positive, and we will see right after this bill is signed into law -- attempts by those who do want to go into your face, who are not thinking about loving relationships but how they can defeat somebody else and quell free speech," Slom described. "People have differences and you can't legislate morality, you can try -- but you can't do it," Slom added.





Slom said the bill would have "lasting and serious consequences" on social conduct, small businesses and education -- claiming parents would not be able to opt out of "Pono Choices", a teen pregnancy and STD prevention program that currently touches on homosexuality.





Senator Jill Tokuda, the Senate's Education committee chair, described Slom's floor address as "absolutely incorrect".



"Parents at any point in the program from before it's even begun throughout every single unit, have every option to pull their child out from this particular program. In fact, parents are walked through the entire curriculum unit by unit before it's even taught to their child. There is very clearly an opt -out policy that is in existence for the Department of Education for all controversial issues. This will remain in effect going forward, nothing has changed," explained Sen. Tokuda.

Senator David Ige described DOE's policy as "the most liberal in country" -- reiterating parents don't even have to review the curriculum first.

"They can tomorrow submit a letter to their school that states those subject matters they don't want their children participating in -- regardless where it comes from," Sen. Ige said.