For Rainbow Young People

We were all recognized as unique members of society, akava-ine, takatāpui, fakaleti, fa'afafine. And then colonisation came along and took that part of our history away from us.

Now, some of our elders are almost quite hesitant, but they're only thinking like that because of colonisation.

The reason why I love being a fa'afafine is it expresses my cultural identity because I can trace back in the history that date back way before the missionary and Colonial rulers appeared on the Island.

What I love about being brown, queer: I enjoy so much of just the exposure of, like, putting myself out on stage, I'm a performing artist, but I do things to the extent of representing who I am 100%.

Yeah, I think the thing about being diverse in sexuality and in ethnicity is that it comes with different obstacles you have to pass. In real conservative Pacific Islander families, they're not so open to it. You know, it's not something that's talked about so often, and often it is actually frowned upon. It's a difficult situation to be in.

Being Samoan and bisexual means everything. It's not been easy, but it's just that I'm glad I've come out.

In Samoa, we, you don't hear of the terms "transgender" or "gay". Samoan people in Samoa classify us as fa'afafine and they call us fa'afafine.

Being Pasifika and queer, there's always this moment where I believe that there are some penalties to it. It's also a gift.

I can be this glamorous brown-skinned diva who owns the stage for the amount of time she has, or I can be this dancer who just moves her body the way she feels because it's obviously embedded into me.

Being Samoan and bisexual – it's true there's no terminology for that. Just 'cause there's no terminology for that in Samoan culture doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, because we are out there.

What being akava'ine means to me is several things. The first one is who I am culturally, because first and foremost, I take my culture with me everywhere I go.

Secondly, it's an easy way for my Pacific community. Everyone has a role. You have the man's jobs, the female's job, and then you have the job of the akava'ine.

I think some of the hard things about being fa'afafine is social acceptance. To me, the general statement that's been floating around that fa'afafine are accepted in Samoa, I believe they're actually tolerated.

And that comes back to sort of the missionary and colonial rulers and how they have filtered Samoan people in Samoa.

It's weird too because Samoan's always have this thing of embracing the fa'afafine, but there has to be this one particular type of fa'afafine which is the who'll stay at home, cleans stuff, do all the chores, looks after the kids, like, just this domesticated fa'afa and not this kind of fa'afafine that's free and… they're finding themselves and quite expressive with their wardrobe. That's probably the hard thing.

Some of the hard things about being Samoan and bisexual: I would say our religious part and what I feel I've put my family through. It's taken me a while to come out. I didn't want my family to get any backlash.

Our family's quite religious; they're really into their Christianity in Samoan culture. I just didn't want anything bad to happen to them.

What I would say to the younger people is that there is help out there and there's other people, all you've got to do is just reach out and not be afraid because it may seem crazy at the time but you got people that are there for you regardless.

My education counts as any criticism to being fa'afafine. You must be educated – it is our weapon.

I've been there and it's going to be a hard journey, but I kid you not, at the end, you will be one hell of an amazing person, and you will walk down the middle of that road strutting your stuff and owning it.

Takatāpui is an all-encompassing word that includes people who grew up Māori and identify as part of the rainbow community, gender diverse community.

Being takatāpui is not brand-new in Te Ao Māori. People have been that way for, you know, generations. But in the social context of today, it's our umbrella term for people who whakapapa Māori who are also a part of the community.

Inside Out is a national charity, and our vision is to support all rainbow young people across Aotearoa to have a sense of safety and belonging in their schools and communities.

We provide a range of support to schools, workplaces and community organisations to create more rainbow inclusive spaces.

We also run a range of youth development programs in Wellington to support young people to connect with others like them.

Rainbow young people in New Zealand are five times more likely to attempt suicide because of the discrimination that they’re facing.

Inside OUT believes that every young person has the right to be safe and free to be who they are.