Six hours into the joint House committee hearing on Senate Bill 1, lawmakers have heard from less than 200 of the roughly 4,000 people who have signed up to testify.

With few exceptions, it’s been a mellow scene in the basement auditorium at the Capitol. The comments from those testifying have been of the same variety that the Senate heard during its all-day hearing Monday. 

One man says it’s just a bunch of mainlanders forcing gay marriage on Hawaii. The next testimony comes from a gay pastor who was born and raised on Oahu. Contradictions and ironies abound. 

Outside in the rotunda, the crowds of protesters on either side of the issue are a fraction of the size they were Monday when thousands descended on the Capitol.

A small group has lined Beretania Street, waving signs supporting a proposed constitutional amendment. Someone on a megaphone is yelling, “Let the people vote!”

A dozen or so people wearing rainbow-colored lei and blue “Marriage Equality” shirts are watching people testify on a TV that was set up to accommodate the overflow crowd.

The House committees are expected to take testimony until midnight, then pick up again tomorrow. 

Follow Civil Beat’s live blog here.

— Nathan Eagle

Top: People listen to the testimony on Senate Bill 1, Oct. 31, 2013, at the Capitol.

Above: A person chants ‘let the people vote’ outside the Capitol, Oct. 31, 2013. (Photos by Nathan Eagle/Honolulu Civil Beat)