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The party of Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole has certainly changed since the time he joined. The Republicans were one of the first organized political parties after the islands were annexed to the United States in 1900. They were the party of oligarchs -- missionary descendants, businessmen and the architects of the overthrow of the monarchy. They were the party in power.
Prince Kuhio cast his lot with those who overthrew his country, tried him for treason and jailed him in an effort to help his people. In doing so, the party gained the support of many Native Hawaiians and former kingdom subjects allowing it to firmly grip onto most levers of power.
While the Mainland saw the Democrats usher in the Progressive Era and the New Deal in the 1930s, the islands remained in control by the GOP. Hawai'i Republicans were not necessarily socially conservative. Most were what you would think of as country club Republicans preaching the gospel of small government, less regulations for businesses and low taxes. They were the party of property owners and employers.
That changed when labor unions and a multiracial coalition took control of the near-dead Democratic Party in the 1940s and '50s. Now it was the Democrats' turn. While conservatives rode a wave of backlash with Richard Nixon at the tail end of the 1960s, regrouped after Watergate in the '70s and blossomed with Ronald Reagan in the 1980s on the Mainland, the islands remained a solid blue state.
It's still like that. Despite some exceptions -- like when Maui's Linda Lingle became the first Republican governor in decades -- the Republicans have not held power since the mid-20th century.
But the GOP might be changing. A bill in the Legislature illustrates their evolution. House Bill 1697 finds that "the current emphasis on abstinence and problem-focused language offered in Hawai'i schools can contribute to ongoing stigmatization of sexual health topics."
The bill calls for teachers and educators trained on sexual health topics that are "positive and accurate representation of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, other sexual orientations and gender identities" to destigmatize these groups. This proposal for training caused a fury of opposition from conservative groups right here in Hawai'i.
When the Capitol reopened last month, Republicans staged a rally against the bill. They argued it deprived parents of their right to educate their children and instead indoctrinated them with a homosexual agenda they vehemently oppose.
The rallygoers consisted of a few dozen people. They held signs protesting immorality. Someone wore a red MAGA hat and many proudly displayed the American Flag. It wasn't just haoles either. A lot of local folks were there too. This appeared to be the latest iteration of the modern Republican Party.
The Republican Party of Hawai'i is not what it used to be. They weren't necessarily country clubbers espousing the mantra of low taxes and less regulation for business owners and employers and who tend to be more moderate on social policy issues.
These folks who stood by the few GOP legislators in the Capitol that day were more reminiscent of what we've been seeing on the Mainland. They strenuously objected to the notion of teachers being trained to assist students about sexuality. The argument was simple: they're parents with the right to teach their kids what they want and how they want -- even if it is a public school. Alongside this argument is the claim that it's another example of a government invading the province of the family sphere.
The sentiment reminded me of the concerned parents who stormed school boards, county council meetings and other public forums to protest what they perceived as critical race theory -- a discipline that came from law schools and is taught mainly in colleges and universities.
Like the protesters to HB1697, these parents asserted that they did not want schools teaching their kids about things like structural racism and how institutions may inadvertently perpetuate white supremacy. These parents argued that it was their right -- not the school's -- to tell their kids about race.
The rally saw the leaders of Hawai'i's Republican Party, Rep. Bob McDermott, Rep. Gene Ward and the handful of other elected officials. They lambasted the government and encouraged the rallygoers to voice their opposition to the bill. The rally also included a great deal of prayer and praising God. A blending of religion and politics that was never really part of Hawai'i's Republican Party.
And while it was easy to write off this rally as a red blip in a sea of blue, the bill made it out of the House and crossed over to the Senate, where it's waiting for a hearing. Perhaps the rally worked.
* Ben Lowenthal is a trial and appellate lawyer, currently with the Office of the Public Defender, who grew up on Maui. His email is 808stateofaloha@gmail.com.