Letter From Samoa

[Guest Zenda]

Thought this might interest some. In Aotearoa [NZ] there's a large Polynesian community from the surrounding Polynesian islands. Polynesian transgender people [including indigenous Moari] make up a large proportion of the Aotearoan transgender population.

Letter from Samoa: Impersonating woman still illegal

3:00PM Friday September 07, 2007

By Cherelle Jackson

President of the Samoa Fa'afafine Association Roger Stanley.

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Despite fa'afafines being very much part of the Samoan culture, the impersonation of a woman is still illegal under the Crimes Ordinance 1961 of Samoa.

Fa'afafines, otherwise known as transvestites, cross dressers or homosexuals are deeply ingrained in the Fa'aSamoa according myths and legends.

Lau Dr Asofou Soo a Professor of Samoan studies defined the faafafine as: "Men who act like women, feel like women and tend to do work done by women."

According to Samoan Dictionary by G.B Milner a fa'afafine is defined it as "a feminine man or youth."

The Transgender website, which talks about transvestites in many cultures, has an interesting definition drawn from Paradise Bent, a documentary about Samoan faafafines.

"When it comes to gender, it seems there is a truly Samoan way of seeing the world. Fa'afafines are boys who are raised as girls and take on the domestic duties performed by women around the home, raising the children, caring for the elderly, and bringing the family together."

In addition to those roles, fa'afafines in recent years have spearheaded health campaigns, the promotion of human rights issues as well as dominating the fashion designing scene in Samoa.

This month saw more than 10 fa'afafines from around the Pacific take part in the Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) conference held at the SamoaTel conference room.

The vibrant and diverse personalities of the participants provided a smooth edge to an otherwise taboo topic in the Pacific.

The objective of the Conference according to President of Samoa Aids Foundation Mr Ken Moala is to create a network of organizations and individuals from around the Pacific to lobby for and advocate in the interests of the MSM community.

"The term (MSM) is very fluid, for want of a better term we are trying to identify exactly who we are, there's various terminologies, but the common objective is for intervention with STIs and HIV/AIDS on how best we can protect ourselves and our community," Moala said.

Part of the advocacy process, includes the influencing of "archaic" legislation which discriminates against MSMs and fa'afafines.

Moala was asked if the network would focus on the Samoan legislation which not only prohibits the impersonation of a woman, it also contains anti-sodomy articles.

According to the 1961 Crimes Ordinance it is illegal for a male to impersonate a woman with "the intent to deceive any other person as to his true sex."

The article goes on to state that using typical female products, accessories or "any other article intended by him to represent that he is female or in any other way is impersonating or representing himself to be a female."

The maximum penalty for such a crime is six months of imprisonment or a fine not exceeding $200.00.

But this is not a major issue according to Moala.

"Regarding our own legislation, I have already been in contact with the Attorney General's Office, the comment is that they need to be repealed, because we do not live in a society which bans the impersonation of women," Moala said.

According to the HIV/AIDS campaigner, it happens anywhere.

"The AG told me they would not enforce it because of our cultural stance but to me that's not an issue, there's a lot of issues that we should be concerned about and once of those is that were safe here in Samoa."

Currently no fa'afafine or person has been charged under this law.