As state Rep. Adrian Tam approached the podium set up at Queen’s Beach Wednesday, he marched to the rhythm of dance music booming from loudspeakers set up by a trio of protesters just yards away who were holding a sign that read “Give your life to Christ Jesus before it’s too late.”
At first, Tam, a gay man, ignored them and addressed a crowd of around 60 LGBTQ+ activists, government officials, community members and respected mahu who gathered to celebrate the installation of a city plaque commemorating Queen’s Beach as a place of refuge for Hawaii’s queer population since the 1970s.
But his demeanor turned resolute as he raised his voice, looked toward the outnumbered protesters and said, “The real abomination is hate.”
Hawaii has generally veered progressive in its support of the LGBTQ+ community. The state was one of the first to legalize same-sex relationships and protect against discrimination in housing and employment.
Both Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and Gov. Josh Green officially proclaimed June as Pride Month, and Monday for the first time, a Pride flag was raised over the state Capitol, where it will remain for the entire month.
Separately, Blangiardi directed that a Pride flag once again fly outside the Frank F. Fasi Municipal Building “as a visible symbol of the City and County of Honolulu’s steadfast commitment to creating a respectful and welcoming community for all, regardless of their sexuality, gender, ethnicity, age, religion, nationality or any other defining traits.”
Blangiardi also directed that Honolulu Hale and the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena be illuminated in rainbow colors from sundown June 23 through sunrise June 30.
The united front by Hawaii leaders stands in stark contrast to recent actions by President Donald Trump and his administration to proclaim that the U.S. government will recognize only two sexes, male and female; disband diversity, equity and inclusion programs; ban transgender troops from serving in the military; and rename a naval ship honoring gay rights advocate Harvey Milk.
In his remarks Wednesday, Tam (D, Waikiki) reflected on the symbolism of Monday’s flag-raising at the Capitol, “because I currently serve in a state House that once had individuals that didn’t believe I had the right to marry or even exist.”
During the plaque unveiling ceremony, Blangiardi spoke to a cheerful, at times emotional, crowd of local LGBTQ+ youth who spread out on picnic blankets and kupuna who came in wheelchairs, many of whom used to frequent certain Chinatown spots and play volleyball at Queen’s Beach.
“I don’t even want to say we’re just supporting,” the mayor said. “We’re doing everything we possibly can on every level to demonstrate that and celebrate who we are as a people.”
In precontact Hawaii, the concept of gender fluidity was an accepted, if not revered, trait, as mahu — individuals whose spiritual and physical beings had feminine and masculine elements — were sacred healers. And in the Hawaiian language, pronouns are not gendered.
The site selected for the plaque installation commemorates a grassy portion of Queen’s Surf Beach where mahu and the LGBTQ+ community gathered to be visible. According to a news release on the event, they included “hula dancers and lei makers, volleyball players and roller skaters, musclemen and beauty queens; all were welcome at Queen’s.”
“For me, it was a getaway from everything that was going on in my life privately,” said performer and pageant queen Jerrine Jeffries. “Being that I came out at a later age, I struggled with what was going on. When I got to find this place and all the people that were like me, it became something that I belonged to.”
She was in her 20s when the site, which at various times through history served as an ancient heiau, an oceanside mansion, a rest home during World War II and a popular restaurant and entertainment venue, became a public park in 1971. Three years later, it was the site of Hawaii’s first organized Gay Pride Parade through Waikiki in 1974.
On a daily basis, Queen’s Surf Beach was a loud and lively place, according to Jeffries, with “the girls” dancing hula and playing volleyball — though Jeffries admits she never participated out of fear of breaking a nail.
As an early teen, Kay Shin, now 63, came for the volleyball and stayed for the company.
“It was just being young,” he said. “Good fun.”
LEI PUA ‘Ala Queer Histories of Hawaii project, along with the Hawai‘i LGBT Legacy Foundation, worked to install the plaque. It’s the latest addition to a larger effort to memorialize LGBTQ+ history as Hawaii’s history, including gathering oral testimonies and creating a digital and interactive map of ancient and modern sites that are tied to moolelo (tales and legends) and historic milestones, according to Dean Hamer, co-director of Lei Pua ‘Ala Queer Histories of Hawaii.
Nearly a year ago, the same group organized installation of a plaque at the location of The Glade Show Club in Chinatown, where Blangiardi commemorated the struggles and resilience of transgender performers who, while popular performers at the time, were forced to wear “I Am A Boy” buttons following a 1963 state law that criminalized cross-dressing.
Joe Wilson, co-director of Lei Pua ‘Ala Queer Histories of Hawaii, and Hamer’s husband described the continued efforts by government leaders to recognize and collaborate with LGBTQ+ organizations as “quite extraordinary.”
“Here, we are working in partnership with many of our public officials, the mayor, the governor,” Wilson said. “Obviously, no one is agreeing with everyone all the time, but how fortunate we are that our public officials and governmental leaders are working with us to do this. It’s quite extraordinary.”
But with the Trump administration’s crackdown on references to the LGBTQ+ community, including a ban on flying Pride flags at State Department buildings, embassies and the White House and removal of the words “transgender” and “queer” from New York’s Stonewall National Monument website, there is need to do more, Hamer said.
“There’s an increased desire, almost an insistence, that we need to do permanent things to mark our presence, more than just stories on our website, more than plaques that can easily be removed,” he said. “All over the country, our contributions are literally being erased.”
EVERY Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Kuhio Beach Hula Mound, Lei Pua ‘Ala Queer Histories of Hawaii’s “The Return of Kapaemahu” aims to perpetuate those stories in a unique vision of LGBTQ+ history and tradition in Hawaii.
Since February, the free hourlong show, inspired by Hamer, Wilson and kumu Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu’s Oscar-shortlisted animated short film “Kapaemahu,” reiterates the story of the four Tahitian mahu healers who came to Hawaii and, according to moolelo, cured its people.
The show, which was composed, directed and choreographed by kumu Patrick Makuakane, takes place at the site of four sacred stones in the heart of Waikiki. Sponsors include the city, Lei Pua ‘Ala Queer Histories of Hawaii, the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, Waikiki Business Improvement District, Mellon Foundation, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement and Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities.
While the show is set to run through the end of the year, Wilson and Hamer, who are also filmmakers, said they hope the overwhelmingly positive audience feedback could extend its stay.
“Most of our work, to a certain extent, preaches to the choir. When we make a film, the people who see the film are interested in the topic,” Hamer said. “That hula mound, that’s for tourists in Waikiki. People want a show, and they want a show that they can come and go and that’s what they get. That’s really speaking beyond the choir. That’s speaking to the public. That’s fantastic.”
Makuakane, the first Native Hawaiian recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Genius Award, grew up on 1st Avenue in Kaimuki and was raised on the shoreline of Queen’s Beach, where he would walk the mile and a half to hang out on weekends.
He said he recognizes the weight of the moment that in the same neighborhood of his youth, there now sits a plaque that celebrates LGBTQ+ joy, and that nearby, his own hula show honoring mahu healers is performed. He called it “hopeful.”
“There’s always certain things when mahu gather: One, it’s really loud; two, it’s really funny; three, it’s always filled with aloha,” Makuakane said. “They’re loud and obnoxious at times, but people care, they’re accepted. There’s always this feeling of aloha, that you are welcome here. I think the world can take a lesson from that.”
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Celebrate Pride month in Honolulu:
>> “The Return of Kapaemahu” hula show, every Wednesday, 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Kuhio Beach Hula Mound
>> “The Golden Gays” play, Thursday to Sunday through June 29, times vary at Kumu Kahua Theatre
>> “Out in Paradise” screening, June 10, 6-8 p.m. at Hawaii Theatre Center
>> Honolulu AIDS Walk, June 21, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. at Kapiolani Park
>> Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival, June 27-29 at Doris Duke Theatre
