oh god "trans femininity is a colonial imposition" discourse has reared its ugly head again SO, speaking as somebody who identifies both as a trans woman and whakawahine: I consider them wai of the same spring, two rivers calved off by the land, but very much of the same water and origin.
April 9, 2025 at 10:38 PM
oh god "trans femininity is a colonial imposition" discourse has reared its ugly head again SO, speaking as somebody who identifies both as a trans woman and whakawahine: I consider them wai of the same spring, two rivers calved off by the land, but very much of the same water and origin.
Fa'afaine(Samoa)
Fakaleitī (Tonga)
Māhū (Hawaii)
Aotearoa (Whakawahine)
Fakaleitī (Tonga)
Māhū (Hawaii)
Aotearoa (Whakawahine)
April 12, 2025 at 1:52 AM
Fa'afaine(Samoa)
Fakaleitī (Tonga)
Māhū (Hawaii)
Aotearoa (Whakawahine)
Fakaleitī (Tonga)
Māhū (Hawaii)
Aotearoa (Whakawahine)
Two weeks ago one of our whakawahine kuia gave me a hug & said “I’m proud of you my son” & I’m still periodically tearing up over it. It proper fucked me up. Didn’t even know I wanted to be called son. Let alone needed it. I don’t think I do, except by our Irawhiti Nanny’s?
June 12, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Two weeks ago one of our whakawahine kuia gave me a hug & said “I’m proud of you my son” & I’m still periodically tearing up over it. It proper fucked me up. Didn’t even know I wanted to be called son. Let alone needed it. I don’t think I do, except by our Irawhiti Nanny’s?
'Takatāpui is an umbrella term that embraces all Māori with diverse gender identities, sexualities and sex characteristics including whakawāhine, tangata ira tāne, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer. I identify as takatāpui because I am queer.'
tryst.link/blog/the-...
tryst.link/blog/the-...
The Bottom Line: Sex Work & Queerness with Vixen Temple
Vixen Temple shares her experience of being a takatāpui (queer) sex worker.
tryst.link
December 3, 2024 at 10:00 PM
'Takatāpui is an umbrella term that embraces all Māori with diverse gender identities, sexualities and sex characteristics including whakawāhine, tangata ira tāne, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer. I identify as takatāpui because I am queer.'
tryst.link/blog/the-...
tryst.link/blog/the-...
Yeah I got yelled at by TERFs when I brought it up on Twitter one time and it's like ... okay but she didn't say "then let a woman do it" she said "then let me become a man" – we know from Fa'afafine (etymologically linked to 'Whakawahine') that this language existed precolonially.
November 22, 2024 at 9:30 PM
Yeah I got yelled at by TERFs when I brought it up on Twitter one time and it's like ... okay but she didn't say "then let a woman do it" she said "then let me become a man" – we know from Fa'afafine (etymologically linked to 'Whakawahine') that this language existed precolonially.
Oh god, wading into discourse, but I consider myself both a trans woman and a whakawahine – my gender draws from both modern and ancient understandings, and I don't think they are incompatible. There's a lot of EITHER/OR going on and it's just not like that, a lot of us pull from multiple places.
September 5, 2024 at 11:43 PM
Oh god, wading into discourse, but I consider myself both a trans woman and a whakawahine – my gender draws from both modern and ancient understandings, and I don't think they are incompatible. There's a lot of EITHER/OR going on and it's just not like that, a lot of us pull from multiple places.
Please, if you can, go to this on Wednesday to support our whānau.
March 25, 2024 at 6:25 PM
Please, if you can, go to this on Wednesday to support our whānau.
Also, very good point
November 5, 2023 at 7:14 PM
Also, very good point
transmisogyny isn't just when an individual experiences violence because they look like they could be a trans woman. It is when a society is misogynist, and the notion that one could consciously decide to whakawahine is a viscerally disgusting thing
November 28, 2024 at 12:22 PM
transmisogyny isn't just when an individual experiences violence because they look like they could be a trans woman. It is when a society is misogynist, and the notion that one could consciously decide to whakawahine is a viscerally disgusting thing
Friends in Heretaunga / Hastings: Your support is needed for Rainbow Storytime on Wednesday, which Destiny Church is planning to protest.
Facebook link: www.facebook.com/share/p/fjRr...
#loveusthesameholdusthesame
Facebook link: www.facebook.com/share/p/fjRr...
#loveusthesameholdusthesame
March 24, 2024 at 9:09 PM
Friends in Heretaunga / Hastings: Your support is needed for Rainbow Storytime on Wednesday, which Destiny Church is planning to protest.
Facebook link: www.facebook.com/share/p/fjRr...
#loveusthesameholdusthesame
Facebook link: www.facebook.com/share/p/fjRr...
#loveusthesameholdusthesame
addendum: I used "whakawahine" in that particular post in the thread because I find it less clunky than "woman (verb)" or any other potential way of describing said thing in English. "whaka-" being a prefix in te reo māori which turns a noun into a verb
November 28, 2024 at 12:47 PM
addendum: I used "whakawahine" in that particular post in the thread because I find it less clunky than "woman (verb)" or any other potential way of describing said thing in English. "whaka-" being a prefix in te reo māori which turns a noun into a verb
Reports I've been reading use whakawāhine but obviously that's only for trans women
August 16, 2024 at 2:42 AM
Reports I've been reading use whakawāhine but obviously that's only for trans women
Samoa: Faʻafafine, Tonga: Fakaleitī / fakafefine, Hawaii: Mahu, Fr. Polynesia: Mahu, Cook Islands: ʻAkavaʻine, Niue: Fakafifine, NZ: whakawāhine, Melanesia: Vakasalewalewa, Philippines: bakla, bayot, ago, Thailand: Kathoey, India/Pakistan/Bangladesh: Hijra, Peru: Quariwarmi, Ethiopia: Ashtime
September 14, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Samoa: Faʻafafine, Tonga: Fakaleitī / fakafefine, Hawaii: Mahu, Fr. Polynesia: Mahu, Cook Islands: ʻAkavaʻine, Niue: Fakafifine, NZ: whakawāhine, Melanesia: Vakasalewalewa, Philippines: bakla, bayot, ago, Thailand: Kathoey, India/Pakistan/Bangladesh: Hijra, Peru: Quariwarmi, Ethiopia: Ashtime
Happy Transgender Awareness Week, whānau 🏳️⚧️💕🤍🩵 #TransgenderAwarenessWeek #MsAotearoaWhakawahine
November 13, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Happy Transgender Awareness Week, whānau 🏳️⚧️💕🤍🩵 #TransgenderAwarenessWeek #MsAotearoaWhakawahine
October is LGBTQIA+ History Month!
We are highlighting global trans and nonbinary identities both in history and enduring today.
Today we are highlighting the transgender traditions of the Maori people
We are highlighting global trans and nonbinary identities both in history and enduring today.
Today we are highlighting the transgender traditions of the Maori people
October 19, 2025 at 8:42 PM
October is LGBTQIA+ History Month!
We are highlighting global trans and nonbinary identities both in history and enduring today.
Today we are highlighting the transgender traditions of the Maori people
We are highlighting global trans and nonbinary identities both in history and enduring today.
Today we are highlighting the transgender traditions of the Maori people
Btw the Māori word that I identify with is whakawahine rather than takatāpui.
The translations I saw were like 'becoming a woman' but now that I know a wee bit of Te Reo, I'd say it's more like 'making oneself a woman.'
Whaka is an action verb.
The translations I saw were like 'becoming a woman' but now that I know a wee bit of Te Reo, I'd say it's more like 'making oneself a woman.'
Whaka is an action verb.
December 19, 2024 at 4:16 AM
Btw the Māori word that I identify with is whakawahine rather than takatāpui.
The translations I saw were like 'becoming a woman' but now that I know a wee bit of Te Reo, I'd say it's more like 'making oneself a woman.'
Whaka is an action verb.
The translations I saw were like 'becoming a woman' but now that I know a wee bit of Te Reo, I'd say it's more like 'making oneself a woman.'
Whaka is an action verb.
…of whakawahine through visual instillation, live performance, film, dance, activation, and sculptural works. Pounamu is influenced by the cross-cultural currents of trans-Pacific identities, pre-colonial perspectives, queer eco-systems, waka-whawha migrations, body sovereignty, and community…
January 26, 2026 at 5:27 AM
…of whakawahine through visual instillation, live performance, film, dance, activation, and sculptural works. Pounamu is influenced by the cross-cultural currents of trans-Pacific identities, pre-colonial perspectives, queer eco-systems, waka-whawha migrations, body sovereignty, and community…
… in Te Rōpu Awhina Whakawahine.
Our friends at Gender Minorities Aotearoa has put together a blog post collating all the events happening this week across the motu, check it out in the link in our bio.
Our friends at Gender Minorities Aotearoa has put together a blog post collating all the events happening this week across the motu, check it out in the link in our bio.
November 13, 2025 at 9:40 AM
… in Te Rōpu Awhina Whakawahine.
Our friends at Gender Minorities Aotearoa has put together a blog post collating all the events happening this week across the motu, check it out in the link in our bio.
Our friends at Gender Minorities Aotearoa has put together a blog post collating all the events happening this week across the motu, check it out in the link in our bio.
We recently had the privilege to join our Rōpu Māori to tautoko Te Rōpu Awhina Whakawahine in Kirikiriroa Hamilton as they put together Ms Aotearoa Whakawahine/Trans Pageant 2025. This rendition of the pageant is a revival of the legendary 1996 Miss Queen of Queens Aotearoa Pageant…
November 13, 2025 at 9:39 AM
We recently had the privilege to join our Rōpu Māori to tautoko Te Rōpu Awhina Whakawahine in Kirikiriroa Hamilton as they put together Ms Aotearoa Whakawahine/Trans Pageant 2025. This rendition of the pageant is a revival of the legendary 1996 Miss Queen of Queens Aotearoa Pageant…
Check out her performance of Ka Pioioi E with Māia Huia live in the Albert Park Caretaker's Cottage for Te Tīmatanga 2022, and come along to the encore season of 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺-𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘦? at Kōanga Festival next weekend (19-21 Sep) at Te Pou Theatre #tetīmatanga #prideelevates #whakawāhine #waiata
September 9, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Check out her performance of Ka Pioioi E with Māia Huia live in the Albert Park Caretaker's Cottage for Te Tīmatanga 2022, and come along to the encore season of 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺-𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘦? at Kōanga Festival next weekend (19-21 Sep) at Te Pou Theatre #tetīmatanga #prideelevates #whakawāhine #waiata
From Archive: Pageant with a difference
28.06.1996. By Julian Slade, Central Leader
Trailblazer Mama Tere hosted the first pageant for whakawahine in 1996 in Tāmaki Makaurau. The call is out for Ms Aotearoa Whakawahine/Trans Pageant 2025. Link in our bio #RewindRāpare #QueerHistoryMonthAotearoa
28.06.1996. By Julian Slade, Central Leader
Trailblazer Mama Tere hosted the first pageant for whakawahine in 1996 in Tāmaki Makaurau. The call is out for Ms Aotearoa Whakawahine/Trans Pageant 2025. Link in our bio #RewindRāpare #QueerHistoryMonthAotearoa
July 3, 2025 at 4:40 AM
From Archive: Pageant with a difference
28.06.1996. By Julian Slade, Central Leader
Trailblazer Mama Tere hosted the first pageant for whakawahine in 1996 in Tāmaki Makaurau. The call is out for Ms Aotearoa Whakawahine/Trans Pageant 2025. Link in our bio #RewindRāpare #QueerHistoryMonthAotearoa
28.06.1996. By Julian Slade, Central Leader
Trailblazer Mama Tere hosted the first pageant for whakawahine in 1996 in Tāmaki Makaurau. The call is out for Ms Aotearoa Whakawahine/Trans Pageant 2025. Link in our bio #RewindRāpare #QueerHistoryMonthAotearoa
Viele Kulturen haben nie binär gedacht. Die Nádleehi bei den Navajo, die Whakawahine bei den Māori, die Quariwarmi bei den Inka, die Burrnesha in Albanien oder die Femminielli in Süditalien zeigen: Vielfalt war immer da. Sie wurde bekämpft, aber nie ausgelöscht.
April 24, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Viele Kulturen haben nie binär gedacht. Die Nádleehi bei den Navajo, die Whakawahine bei den Māori, die Quariwarmi bei den Inka, die Burrnesha in Albanien oder die Femminielli in Süditalien zeigen: Vielfalt war immer da. Sie wurde bekämpft, aber nie ausgelöscht.