Flora Castaneda (L) and Tanilei Tesorio celebrate with a kiss after the Hawaii State Senate approved a bill allowing same-sex marriage to be legal in the state of Hawaii, in Honolulu November 12, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Allowing gays to marry has been vehemently opposed in Hawaii by religious conservatives, as it has been elsewhere in the country.

Supporters say the Hawaii bill was crafted to address concerns that legalizing same-sex marriage would infringe on religious freedoms. The bill explicitly exempts clergy from having to perform gay weddings if doing so would conflict with their religious beliefs.

It also grants immunity from administrative, civil and legal liability to religious organizations and officials for refusing to provide goods and services, or their facilities or grounds, for same-sex weddings and related events.

"This is about government recognizing two individuals - government, not churches," Democratic state Senator Will Espero, a supporter, said during the final floor debate.

Massachusetts in 2003 became the first state to permit gay marriage. A year ago, only six states and the District of Columbia recognized gay marriage, but the number has since more than doubled, due in most cases to litigation over the issue.

Three states - Maine, Maryland and Washington - became the first to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples by popular vote with passage of ballot initiatives last November.

Last month, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie dropped his legal opposition to gay marriage, making his state the 14th to legalize same-sex weddings.

Illinois lawmakers gave final approval to a same-sex marriage bill on November 5, and Governor Pat Quinn is expected to sign that measure into law later this month.

The debate has long divided Hawaii. In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled it was discriminatory to deny marriage rights to same-sex couples.

But the legislature voted the following year to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples, passing a law at odds with the courts. And in 1998, Hawaii voters took the courts out of the equation by approving a constitutional amendment giving the legislature power to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples.

Abercrombie, who served more than two decades in the US Congress before running for governor in 2010, signed a same-sex civil unions bill into law two years ago. His predecessor, Republican Linda Lingle, vetoed a civil unions bill in 2010.