The theme of the trial is controlled by the state, which has the burden of proof: what exactly are its compelling state interests in continuing to discriminate against same-gender couples by denying them the right to civil marriage? The state will focus on child-rearing. The first five or six days will be the state's witnesses, and then will come the plaintiff's witnesses.

The attorneys for the plaintiffs with be Dan Foley and Evan Wolfson. Dan Foley is the Hawaii-based civil rights lawyer who has been with the case since its beginning in 1991; he's heterosexual, happily married with two children. In Foley's case load this season is also a lawsuit on behalf of mayoral candidate Arnold Morgado, challenging some aspects of Hawaii's campaign spending laws as violations of free speech.

Evan Wolfson is on the national staff of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a gay man who understood early the central role of marriage in obtaining civil rights for same-gender couples. Besides assigning Evan full-time to preparing the U.S. for Baehr v. Miike for the past several years, LLDEF has recently picked up the large costs of deposing the expert witnesses of the case (exclusive of Dan Foley's fees, which are covered by h.e.r.m.p).

Kirk Cashmere, a Honolulu attorney with extensive civil rights experience, is co-counsel with Dan and Evan.

BAEHR V. MIIKE (formerly Baehr v. Lewin): This is the lawsuit by 3 same-gender couples, two female and one male, to obtain marriage licenses in Hawaii. In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that denial of such licenses was sex discrimination (which is prohibited by Hawaii's Constitution) AND that sex discrimination was subject to the same legal standards as race, ethnic or religious discrimination. Thus, to continue the discrimination the state must have a "compelling state interest". No one is quite sure what that could be; the Hawaii Supreme Court sent the case back to the Honolulu Circuit to find out.

BAEHR stands for Ninia Baehr, the first of the six plaintiffs in alphabetical order: Ninia Baehr, Genora Dancel, Pat Lagon, Joe Melillo and two others. MIIKE refers to the current head of the Hawaii Department of Health (which issues marriage licenses).