Nonprofit, government and community speakers converged Thursday at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol rotunda to oppose Hawaiʻi House Bill 1118. If passed, the bill would remove new non-medical exemptions to immunization requirements in local public and private schools.
HB1118 is scheduled to be heard today at 3 p.m. by the House Committee of Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs. Should it move forward, the next hearing will be March 11, organizers said.
Spearheading the rally was grassroots organization The Aloha Freedom Coalition, which focuses on uniting people with aloha, according to Gary Cordery, who launched the group with his wife Kim in 2020 in response to Covid-era mandates. Cordery, a Kailua resident, was a Republican candidate for governor in 2022.
Cordery told Aloha State Daily, “The people’s voices matter. The legislators are supposed to work for the people. We want individual freedom. We want body autonomy – we think people should be able to decide what goes into their body, their kid's body, to determine if they get to go to school.
"We’re not anti-vax, that’s a big misnomer. If people want to get vaxed, go for it, it’s OK, but we want people to be able to choose.”
He added, the impact of the bill passing could be parents pulling their children out of school to homeschool or even leaving the state, which would have “economic consequences.”
“We hope the legislators will hear us all day long." Cordery said. "We want them to know we’re opposed to HB1118, and we want them to support good bills.”
The Department of Education, among others, submitted testimony in favor of the bill. “The department defers to the Department of Health on public health and safety matters and is committed to maintaining a safe, healthy and accessible learning environment,” DOE Superintendent Keith Hayashi wrote. “Immunization requirements help protect school communities, and if the DOH determines that revoking exemptions is necessary due to increased health risks, the department will comply to safeguard students and staff.”
ASD was on the scene for part of the event, which attracted a consistent flow of attendees that appeared to number in the hundreds over its three hours. We saw children waving signs against HB118, people listening in from the upper levels of the Capitol building, and those in the rotunda cheering, dancing and hugging.
Rep. Garner Shimizu of District 32 led a prayer, saying, “This is the battle we’re in, and we need to do this together, in a way that carries aloha, honor and respect for conversations."
Rep. Diamond Garcia, who represents District 42, also spoke at the rally. “The First Amendment guarantees all freedom of religion,” he said. “We don’t belong to the government. The government belongs to us – we the people of this country, we the people of Hawaiʻi.”
According to its website, “The Aloha Freedom Coalition advocates for the personal freedoms of all communities in Hawaiʻi, promotes transformation and transparency of government and supports the constitutional rights of the people to act, move and live in aloha.” The organization is not affiliated with any political party, its website states.
Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.
