Sexual Orientation and/or Gender Identity/ Expression Discrimination and Victimization among Self-Identified LGBTQI Native Hawaiians in Hawai‘i

Authors

  • Rebecca L Stotzer

Keywords:

Native Hawaiians, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), discrimination, bias crimes

Abstract

Little is known about Native Hawaiian lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and intersex (LGBTQI) people, given the long colonial history of suppressing a variety of indigenous conceptualizations of sexuality, sexual orientation, and gender identity. This paper presents findings from a statewide needs assessment of LGBTQI people in Hawai‘i, focusing on differences between people who identify their primary race/ethnicity as Native Hawaiian and those who identify as other races/ethnicities in regard to experiences of health care and social service discrimination, workplace discrimination, and victimization. Results suggest that Native Hawaiian LGBTQI people face more bias due to sexual orientation and gender identity/expression along multiple domains than those who identify with other racial/ethnic groups overall.

References

Braun, K. L., Mokuau, N., & Browne, C. (2010). Life Expectancy, Morbidity, and Health Practices of Native Hawaiian Elders: A Review of Hawaii Surveillance Data. Hā Kūpuna: National Resource Center for Native Hawaiian Elders, Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work. Available at http://manoa.hawaii.edu/hakupuna/downloads/HK-techreportFinal2011.pdf

Chun, M. N. (2006). Kapu: Gender Roles in Traditional Society. Curriculum Research and Development Group, University of Hawaii. Honolulu, HI.

Dang, A., & Hu, M. (2005). Asian Pacific American Lesbian, gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People: A Community Portrait. New York’s Queer Asian Pacific League Conference, 2004. New York: National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute. Available at http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/ reports/APACommunityPortrait.pdf

Dang, A., & Vianney, C. (2007). Living in the Margins: A National Survey of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Asian and Pacific Islander Americans. New York: National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute. Available from http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/reports/API_ ExecutiveSummaryEnglish.pdf

Diamond, M. (2004). Sexual behavior in pre-contact Hawaii: A sexological ethnography. Revista Española del Pacifico, 6, 37-58.

Dibble, S. L., Sato, N., Haller, E. (2007). Asians and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders midlife lesbians’ health. Women and Therapy, 30 (3-4), 129-143.

Ellingson, L., & Odo, C. (2008). HIV risk behaviors among Mahuwahine (native Hawaiian transgender women). AIDS Education Prevention, 20, 558-569.

Farran, S., & Su’a, A. (2005). Criminal law and fa‘afafine and fakaleiti in the South Pacific. Commonwealth Law Bulletin, 31, 19-31.

Gates, G. J., & Cooke, A. M. (2011). Hawaii Census Snapshot: 2010. Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law. Available at http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla. edu/wp-content/uploads/Census2010Snapshot_Hawaii_v2.pdf

Gates, G. J., & Newport, F. (2013). Percentage highest in DC, lowest in North Dakota. Available at http://www.gallup.com/poll/160517/lgbt-percentage- highest-lowest-north-dakota.aspx

Gething, J. (1977). Christianity and coverture: Impact of the legal status of women in Hawaii, 1820-1920. Hawaii Journal of History, 11, 188-220.

Hall, L. K. (2009). Navigating our own “sea of islands’: Remapping a theoretical space for Hawaiian women and indigenous feminism. Wicazo Sa Review, 24, 15-38.

Han, C. (2008). A qualitative exploration of the relationship between racism and unsafe sex among Asian Pacific Islander gay men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37, 827-837.

Hutchinson, D. L. (2000). Gay rights for gay whites: Race, sexual identity, and equal protection discourse. Cornell Law Review, 85, 1358-1391.

Journal of Indigenous Social Development Volume 3, Issue 1

James, K. E. (1994). Effeminate males and changes in the construction of gender in Tonga. Pacific Studies, 17, 39-69.

Kame’eleihiwa, L. (1992). Native Land and Foreign Desires. Bishop Museum Press: Honolulu, HI.

Kame’eleihiwa, L. (2011). Malama LGBT, Part 1. [Video file] Equality Hawaii. Available at http://olelo.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=30&clip_ id=23853

Kanuha, V. K. (1999). Local and gay: Addressing the health needs of Asian and Pacific Islander American lesbians and gay men in Hawaii. Hawaii Medical Journal, 58, 239-242.

Kanuha, V. K. (2000). The impact of sexuality and race/ethnicity on HIV/AIDS risk among Asian and Pacific Island American (A/PIA) gay and bisexual men in Hawaii. AIDS Education and Prevention, 12, 505-518.

Mageo, J. M. (1992). Male transvestism and cultural change in Samoa. American Ethnologist, 19, 443-459.

Matzner, A. (2001). O Au No Keia: Voices from Hawaii’s Mahu and Transgender Communities. Xlibris.

Merry, S. E. (2000). Colonizing Hawaii: The Cultural Power of Law. Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ.

Mokuau, N., & Matsuoka, J. (1995). Turbulence among native people: Social work practice with Hawaiians. Social Work, 40, 465-472.

Morris Kapā’ihiahilina, R. J. (1990). Aikāne: Accounts of same-sex relationships in the journals of Captain Cook’s third voyage (1776-80). Journal of Homosexuality, 19, 21-54.

Morris Kapā’ihiahilina, R. J. (2006). Translators, traitors, and transducers: Perjuring Hawaiian same-sex texts through deliberate mistranslation. Journal of Homosexuality, 51, 225-247.

Pukui, M. K., Haertig, E. W., & Lee, C. A. (1983). Nānā I Ke Kumu (Look to the Source), Vol. II. Honolulu: Hui Hānai.

Odo, C., & Hawelu, A. (2001). Ea na māhū o Hawaii: The extraordinary health needs of Hawaii’s Māhū. Pacific Health Dialog, 8, 327-334.

Operario, D., Han, C., & Choi, K.-H. (2008). Dual identity among gay Asian Pacific Islander men. Culture, Health, and Sexuality, 10, 447-461.

Robertson, C. E. (1989). Art essay: The māhū of Hawaii. Feminist Studies, 15, 313-326.

Romero, A. P., Rosky, C. J., Badgett, M. V., & Gates, G. J. (2008). Census Snapshot: Hawaii. Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law; Los Angeles, CA. Schmidt, J. (2003). Paradise lost? Social and change and faafafine in Samoa.

Current Sociology, 51, 417-432.

Stotzer, R. L. (2011). Family cohesion among Hawai‘i’s Māhūwahine. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 7, 1-12.

Stotzer, R. L., & Hollis, A. (2013). LGBTQI Hawai‘i: A Needs Assessment of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Communities in the State of Hawai‘i, Preliminary Findings. Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa: Honolulu, HI. Available at http://www.manoa.hawaii.edu/childandfamilylab/NeedsAssessment

Trask, H. (1993). From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai’i. University of Hawai’i Press: Honolulu, HI.

Vasey, P. L., & Barlett, N. H. (2007). What can the Samoan “faafafine” teach us about the Western concept of gender identity disorder in childhood? Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 50, 481-490.

Williams Institute (2013). Infographic: Hawaii. Available at http://williamsinstitute. law.ucla.edu/research/census-lgbt-demographics-studies/infographic-hi-snapshot/

Downloads

Published

2014-08-01

Issue

Section

Articles