Fa’afafine is a Sāmoan word used to broadly describe those who are gifted in the spirit of more than one gender. The word is also used to broadly describe those in the Sāmoan community who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual and Intersexed persons in the Western context. Moderated by leading interdisciplinary artist Shigeyuki Kihara (whose work is displayed in the Go East exhibition), this panel brought together leading Australia-based Sāmoan Fa’afafine – human rights advocate Tuisina Ymania Brown, lawyer Phineas Hartson and curator Léuli Eshraghi – to discuss the Sāmoan Fa’afafine experience in the postcolonial era both in the Sāmoan Islands and the diaspora.
