It’s Transgender Day of Remembrance: Hawaiʻi has a long cultural tradition involving māhū

KHON2 Honolulu - by Sandy Harjo Livingston - 11/20/24:

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) is observed annually on Nov. 20. It’s a poignant day to honor and remember those in the transgender community who have lost their lives due to violence, hate or discrimination.

For many, TDoR is not only a time to mourn but a call to action as an urgent reminder of the struggles transgender people face daily.

As we observe this day, we are also reminded of Hawaiʻi’s long history of gender diversity and the importance of preserving those stories that have been marginalized or forgotten.

Dean Hamer, an award-winning filmmaker, author, researcher and co-director of the Lei Pua ʻAla Project, is one of the leading voices in bringing these histories to light.

His work through projects like Kapaemāhū and Lei Pua ʻAla has uncovered and celebrated the rich, though often overlooked, history of gender diversity in Hawaiʻi.

“Our project is really a transgender year of remembrance,” Hamer said. “It’s about remembering the people who have come before us, the ones whose stories have been hidden or erased.”

For Hamer, the struggle to remember these stories goes beyond historical interest; it is a matter of justice and visibility.

In his view, “When you hide something, when you erase it, you make people forget that those lives mattered.”

In Hawaiʻi, where the tradition of māhū — people who embody both male and female and feminine and masculine qualities — has deep cultural roots, and TDoR serves as an opportunity to celebrate and reclaim that history.

Māhū were once respected members of Native Hawaiian society, valued as healers, caretakers and wise people who played vital roles in their communities.

These traditions offer an Indigenous framework for understanding gender diversity, one that defies the European binary structure of the male-female model that colonization sought to impose throughout the world.

The cultural significance of māhū in Hawaiʻi is part of a broader Pacific Islander tradition that includes identities such as fa’afafine in Samoa, fakaleiti in Tonga, and akava’ine in the Cook Islands.

These identities, represented collectively by the acronym MVPFAFF+ (Māhū, Vakasalewalewa, Fa’afafine, Akava’ine, Fakaleiti, and other gender identities), have been a part of Pacific culture for centuries.

“These are terms that describe people who don’t fit into the typical cisgendered ideas of male or female, masculine or feminine,” Hamer explained. “In these communities, gender diversity was never seen as a threat. Rather, it was embraced as part of the social fabric.”

Yet despite this historical acceptance, the stories of gender-diverse people have not always been told; and they have often been suppressed.

Colonization and the imposition of Western norms about gender and sexuality contributed to the marginalization of māhū and other cisgender-nonconforming individuals.

“When colonizers arrived, they wanted to erase these traditions because they didn’t fit into their rigid systems of gender,” Hamer said. “It’s easy to hide something you don’t like. It’s easy to pretend it doesn’t exist, especially if you want to control a population.”

Hamer’s work is focused on recovering and honoring these forgotten histories. One of the most notable examples is his work on Kapaemāhū, a story about four māhū healers who brought the healing arts to Hawaiʻi a thousand years ago.

The story was once all but lost, relegated to myth and folklore. But through research and commitment to recovering lost knowledge, Hamer has helped bring it back into public consciousness.

“It wasn’t until we started telling this story in a new way that people began to reclaim the word māhū as a positive term,” Hamer recalled. “For so long, it was used as a slur; but now, it’s being recognized as a term of respect, a term of cultural pride.”

This reclamation of terms and stories is critical as we celebrate Transgender Day of Remembrance.

“These are not just stories; these are real people who lived and contributed to the community,” Hamer said. “If we want to understand the full history of Hawaiʻi, we have to include the history of our gender-diverse communities.”

Part of Hamer’s ongoing work includes physical monuments to remember and honor these lives.

For instance, the Kapaemāhū stones, which are four large stones placed in a line on the shores of Waikīkī, serve as a physical memorial to the māhū healers who shaped ancient Native Hawaiian culture.

“The stones are a lasting reminder that these figures existed, that they mattered and that their contributions are woven into the very fabric of Hawaiian history,” Hamer said. “A movie might come and go, but these stones will be there for centuries.”

This idea of physical remembrance resonates deeply with the importance of TDoR. It is not just about remembering the past; it’s about ensuring the present and future hold space for transgender individuals, including those from Pacific Islander and Indigenous communities.

“There’s a real effort right now to erase our queer histories,” Hamer noted. “We’re already seeing government websites remove resources for transgender people, and historians are working to preserve our stories before they’re lost again.”

The urgency to memorialize these histories is more pronounced now than ever given the rise of political and social challenges facing the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

TDoR serves as a reminder of the lives lost not only to violence but to neglect, ignorance and the erasure of identity.

It is a day to honor those who were killed simply for being themselves, but it’s also a day to celebrate the resilience of transgender communities and the cultural traditions that have always embraced gender diversity.

In Hawaiʻi, TDoR holds additional significance, as it draws attention to a history of gender inclusion that existed long before Western colonization.

As Hamer pointed out, “Hawai‘i’s history of māhū and gender diversity is not just a thing of the past; it’s a living part of our community today. These stories, these people, matter.”

Beyond the monuments and films, Hamer sees TDoR as a way to help future generations understand the importance of honoring gender diversity in all its forms.

“The real challenge is to make sure our stories continue to be told,” he said. “It’s about remembering and honoring the lives of those who came before us and ensuring that the space for gender diversity remains open for those who come after us.”

As you reflect on Transgender Day of Remembrance, consider visiting Hawaiʻi’s monuments to gender diversity, such as the Kapaemāhū stones located on Waikīkī Beach or the Rainbow Shower Tree (memorial plaque is located at the Frank F. Fasi Civic Grounds), which honors the two lesbians after whom the tree is named.

“It’s a great place for remembering, a place where you can really connect with history and what these individuals contributed to our world,” Hamer added.

In the spirit of remembrance, let us honor not only those we have lost but also the strength of the transgender community, the rich cultural traditions that celebrate gender diversity and the ongoing work to preserve and share these histories.

Whether through stories, monuments or the activism that continues to push for equality, the legacy of those we remember on TDoR will never be erased. It is a story that belongs to all of us.

You can click here to learn more about the Lei Pua ʻAla project that is working hard to preserve the stories of Hawaiʻi’s māhū and the Pacific’s greater MVPFAFF+ communities and here to experience the Kapaemāhū story.

You can click here to learn more about Transgender Day of Remembrance from the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa’s LGBTQ+ Center.

Click here to learn more about supporting and strengthening our local transgender community and click here for transgender resources.