Kirk Cashmere

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Kirk Cashmere (1955 – December 2, 2004) was a prominent civil rights attorney who helped make same-sex marriage a major issue in Hawaii, as well as a historian and pioneer of organized Judaism in the state.[1] Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, his family moved to Hawaii when he was 5 years old. He attended the Iolani School and took a degree in Near Eastern and Judaic studies at Brandeis University.[2]

After studying Law at the University of Hawaii, he served as legal director for the ACLU, worked with the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii and the Life Foundation, and was a member of the state's Ethics Committee. As a member of the "Governor's Committee on HIV/AIDS," he played a central role in formulating policy that would at once protect the public from unsafe exposure and maintain the confidence of carriers.