Gov. Linda Lingle has informed the Hawaii state legislature that she may veto a sweeping civil unions bill that would give same-sex couples the rights and responsibilities of marriage, according to KITV.

Lingle, a Republican, faced a Monday deadline to tell state lawmakers which bills they passed that she plans to veto.  Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona said Lingle has not yet decided to veto the measure, but in case she does the bill needed to be on the list she transmitted to state lawmakers.  She must decide by July 6th.

Recent reports say Lingle has consulted with religious leaders and groups both in favor and opposed to extending partnership rights to same-sex couples.  The Maui News last week said Lingle, who is Jewish, met with two rabbis–one Orthodox and one Reform–to get their views:

Rabbis Itchel Krasnjansky and Peter Schaktman hail from different branches of Judaism and hold starkly contrasting views on whether same-sex couples should be permitted to form civil unions in Hawaii.

What they have in common is the ear of Republican Gov. Linda Lingle, who has until June 21 to announce whether she may veto the only pending civil unions legislation in the nation.

Lingle, in the final months of her second and last term, faces a momentous decision that carries political and legal implications. For the rabbis, with whom the governor has consulted on the issue, her choice is about much more.

Krasnjansky, who heads the Orthodox community group Chabad of Hawaii, said the Torah teaches that homosexuality, and by extension same-sex marriage, ”is not something that should be condoned or should be legalized,” he said.

But Schaktman, who leads the Reform Temple Emanu-El, insists Judaism teaches that all people regardless of sexual orientation are and should be treated as ”children of God,” and thus should not face discrimination.

”Civil unions are a legal arrangement,” he said. ”Therefore, anyone who uses religion to oppose civil unions is purely using religion to further homophobia.”