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The Tonga Leitis' Association organizes the Miss Galaxy Pageant in Tonga. They have also been involved in reforming colonially influenced laws about leitī life that remain in Tonga. In 2018 a documentary film, Leitis in Waiting, was made about leitī leader Joey Mataele and the efforts of the Tonga Leitis' Association. [1]
The Tonga Leitis Association (TLA) was founded in 1992 by Joey Joleen Mataele. [1] [2] [3] Its first president was Papiloa Foliaki. [1] It was initially founded in order to support Tonga's historic fakaleiti community. [2] It is a member of the Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN). [4] It is the sole LGBTQ+ rights organisation in Tonga. [5]
However, in modern times, Tonga has a powerful religious community, and recently has seen a rise in fundamentalism and religious fanaticism. As such, the fakaleiti tend to face regular discrimination and stigma, despite being an integral part of Tongan culture. [8] Cross-dressing is illegal in Tonga under laws inherited by the former British ...
Miss Galaxy Queen is a beauty pageant held in Nukuʻalofa, Tongatapu in Tonga, where contestants are members of Tonga's fakaleiti community. Organised by the Tonga Leitis' Association (TLA) it raises awareness of LGBTQ+ rights issues and has become a regular event in the Tongan cultural calendar.
The word faʻafafine includes the causative prefix faʻa–, meaning "in the manner of", and the word fafine, meaning "woman". [7] It is a cognate of related words in other Polynesian languages, such as Tongan: fakaleiti or fakafefine, the Cook Islands Māori: akava'ine, and Māori: whakawāhine.
They have traditional spiritual and social roles within the culture, similar to Tongan fakaleiti and Samoan fa'afafine. [2] The terms “third gender”, “in the middle”, and “gender fluid” have been used to help explain māhū in the English language. According to present-day māhū kumu hula Kaua'i Iki: [3]
Fakafifine is included in the acronym MVPFAFF+ (mahu, vakasalewalewa, palopa, fa'afafine, akava'ine, fakaleiti or leiti, fakafifine, and other), coined by Phylesha Brown-Acton, to "enhance Pasifika gender diversity awareness in addition to the term LGBTQI".
Vakasalewalewa is included in the acronym MVPFAFF+ (mahu, vakasalewalewa, palopa, fa'afafine, akava'ine, fakaleiti or leiti, fakafifine, and other), coined by Phylesha Brown-Acton, to "enhance Pasifika gender diversity awareness in addition to the term LGBTQI".