History was made on June 26, 2019 when the Governor of Hawaii signed the first state bill to require open captions in movie theaters. For the first time ever, access to open captions will be permanently protected in Hawaii.
Even with a law, the vast majority of movie theater screenings in Hawaii will not have open captions. Theaters in Hawaii with more than two locations will be required to offer at least two showings a week of movies available with open captioning.
While we celebrate this milestone, it is important to be aware that at this time, none of the other states plus the District of Columbia has a law yet to protect access to open captions. While many theaters are currently offering open captioned movies, each and every one of them is doing so voluntarily and can cease at any time without any legal repercussions. Please continue to share this petition so we can send a loud message to the movie theater industry that open captions are desired. To share, use this url: https://tinyurl.com/ocmoviesnow
The theme of this petition is that open captioned movies are for everyone! Now there is a shirt you can get to show your support for open captions. It is offered by the nonprofit Deaf Entertainment Access Foundation (not associated with this petition). The shirt is sky blue, and proclaims "Open Caption Movies for All." Shirts cost $20 each, or 2 for $35. Orders can be sent to P.O. Box 520844, Bronx, NY, 10452-9998 or ordered using PayPal and the PayPal address paypal.me/deafocmovies. Sizes available are M,L,XL, or 2X.