GLR November-December 2025

GLR k

November–December 2025

Ethnographic Journeys

A LFRED C ORN Young Years with Ed White B RUCE V ILANCH Crazy Days of TV Comedy F RANK R IZZO The Subversive After Dark BY P OORVI G UPTA Gender Identities In Native African Societies BY J OHN M OTAROKI Culture Clash in South Africa BY K ELLEY N ELE Kamehameha III and His Co-King BY D EAN H AMER ‘Coming In’ As a Two-Spirit Journey BY C HASE B RYER Caste and Gender in India

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The Gay & Lesbian Review November–December 2025 • VOLUME XXXII, NUMBER 6 WORLDWIDE

C ONTENTS

Ethnographic Journeys

F EATURES

J EREMY C. F OX Literary Editor M ARTHA E. S TONE Poetry Editor D AVID B ERGMAN Associate Editors S AM D APANAS P AUL F ALLON M ICHAEL S CHWARTZ Contributing Writers R OSEMARY B OOTH D ANIEL A. B URR C OLIN C ARMAN A NNE C HARLES A LFRED C ORN A LLEN E LLENZWEIG C HRIS F REEMAN P HILIP G AMBONE M ATTHEW H AYS H ILARY H OLLADAY A NDREW H OLLERAN I RENE J AVORS J OHN R. K ILLACKY C ASSANDRA L ANGER

Kamehameha III and His Joint King 10 D EAN H AMER

Kaomi, the young monarch’s aik ā ne , acted as co-ruler for a time

“Coming In” as a Two-Spirit Journey 13 C HASE B RYER

In Native American cultures, finding your true gender is a quest

Native Identities Live On in Africa 16 J OHN M OTAROKI

A third gender was recognized in Nigerian and Angolan cultures

South Africa’s Clash of Cultures 18 K ELLEY N ELE

Traditional gender roles, banned by the British, are being revived

Caste and Gender Identity in India 21 P OORVI G UPTA

The low-ranking Dalits have borne the brunt of gender persecution

A Pansy by Any Other Name... 24 H UGH H AGIUS

900 years of LGBT history told in 12 labels for the same-sex deed

Remembering Elena , and Ed White 28 A LFRED C ORN

An early friend was there for the making of Edmund’s first novels

R E V I E W S

P OEMS & D EPARTMENTS G UEST O PINION — Reclaiming Nepal’s Six-Gender Heritage 5 S UNIL B ABU P ANT C ORRESPONDENCE 7 P OEM — “Resurrection Sequence” 20 S HANLEY S MITH -P OOLE P OEM — “A Suggestion for Gays” 22 J ONATHAN B RACKER A RTIST ’ S P ROFILE — Bruce Vilanch, Comedy Writer to the Stars 26 M ATTHEW H AYS P OEM — “Spring” 30 P ATRICK K INDIG C ULTURAL C ALENDAR 48 A RT M EMO — The Subversive World of AfterDark Magazine 49 F RANK R IZZO Alice T. Friedman — Queer Moderns: Max Ewing’s Jazz Age New York 31 A LLEN E LLENZWEIG Gregory Jusdanis and Peter Jeffreys — Constantine Cavafy 33 A LAN C ONTRERAS Jake Poller — Christopher Isherwood 34 H ANK T ROUT Sarah Schulman — The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity 35 B RIAN A LESSANDRO B RIEFS 36 Constance Debré — Playboy, Love Me Tender, and Name 38 L ORI O’D EA Magdalena J. Zaborowska — James Baldwin: The Life Album 39 E LAINE M ARGOLIN Peter Dubé — Desire as Praxis: Towards a Queer Surrealism 40 P ETER M UISE Pan Wendt, editor — Erica Rutherford: Her Lives and Works 42 C ASPER B YRNE Paul Lisicky — Song So Wild and Blue 43 J EAN R OBERTA Christopher Tradowsky — Midnight at the Cinema Palace 44 M ICHAEL Q UINN Gaar Adams — Guest Privileges 45 A NNE C HARLES Jeffrey Seller — Theater Kid: A Broadway Memoir 45 C HARLES G REEN Oksana Vasyakina — Steppe: A Novel 46 A NDREW H OLLERAN John Loughery — Where the Pulse Lives 47 B RUCE S PANG Queer Lens: A History of Photography (art exhibition) 50 I GNACIO D ARNAUDE

A NDREW L EAR J AMES P OLCHIN J EAN R OBERTA V ERNON R OSARIO Contributing Artist C HARLES H EFLING Publisher S TEPHEN H EMRICK Webmaster B OSTON W EB G ROUP WebEditor A LLISON A RMIJO ______________________________ Board of Directors

A RT C OHEN ( CHAIR ) R OBERT H ARDMAN S TEPHEN H EMRICK H ILARY H OLLADAY D AVID L A F ONTAINE J IM J ACOBS A NDREW L EAR

R ICHARD S CHNEIDER , J R . ( PRESIDENT ) T HOMAS Y OUNGREN ( TREASURER ) S TEWART C LIFFORD ( CHAIR EMER .) W ARREN G OLDFARB ( SR . ADVISOR EMER .)

The Gay & Lesbian Review/ WORLDWIDE ® (formerly The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review, 1994-1999) is published bimonthly (six times per year) by The Gay & Lesbian Review, Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational corporation located in Boston, Mass. Subscription rates : U.S.: $41.70 per year (6 issues). Canada and Mexico: $51.70(US). All other countries: $61.70(US). All non-U.S. copies are sent via air mail. Back issues available for $12 each. All correspondence is sent in a plain envelope marked “G&LR.” ISSN: 1077: 6591 © 2025 by Gay & Lesbian Review, Inc. All rights reserved. W EBSITE : www.GLReview.org • S UBSCRIPTIONS : 847-504-8893 • A DVERTISING : 617-421-0082 • S UBMISSIONS : Editor@GLReview.org

November–December 2025

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Holiday Issue: Ethnographic Journeys FROM THE MANAGING EDITOR

W HAT FOLLOW are “ethnographic journeys” not only in the sense that they transport us to non-West ern cultures, but also because they represent a per sonal journey for writers in search of gender identities that were extinguished by colonial powers. In a half-dozen articles, we hear from scholars and members of these cultures about what was lost when outsiders imposed a strictly binary gender code on societies around the world, pushing out more expan sive understandings of gender and sexuality. In Hawai‘i, European colonization meant quashing the con cept of aik ā ne —intimate same-sex friendships that could be equal to opposite-sex partnerships. Scholar Dean Hamer ex plores one of the last gasps of an aik ā ne relationship, the love between King Kamehameha III and Kaomi Moe, who came to rule Hawai‘i alongside the King but later surrendered this con nection so the King could remain on the throne. In North Amer ica, colonization decimated not only Native populations but also their acceptance of multiple genders and fluid roles. Chase Bryer, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, writes that modern Two-Spirit Native Americans are working to reclaim their cul tural heritage and to re-envision themselves in traditional roles within their families and communities. In Africa, the chibados of Angola and the yan daudu of Nigeria held important ceremonial posts and were respected as members of a third gender, horrifying the colonists. Kenyan

writer John Motaroki explains that missionaries and colonial administrators condemned nonbinary identities as deviant and immoral, erasing their status and criminalizing traditional prac tices. Patriarchal ideas of gender also prevail in South Africa, where trans people like contributor Kelley Nele face discrim ination in health care, education, and the workplace. A long se ries of laws imposed across the continent in the 19th, 20th, and even 21st centuries have outlawed “cross-dressing” and same sex acts of intimacy, but resistance remains. In India, the worst persecution falls on gender-noncon forming people who are members of the Dalit caste, once known as “untouchables.” Journalist Poorvi Gupta writes that Dalit trans people face overwhelming and overlapping preju dices, but they’re fighting for greater recognition and respect. In neighboring Nepal, a half-dozen genders were traditionally recognized, writes activist Sunil Babu Pant, ones that he and other Nepalese are pushing to revive—a return to tradition that rejects capitulation to Western norms. Yet again we have proof that there’s no one concept of gen der worldwide. Societies have for millennia devised numerous variations that go far beyond the simple binary. These articles also show that LGBT people everywhere are resistant to having an identity forced upon them. It’s a message that feels particularly timely now, as LGBT people globally face renewed threats. J EREMY C. F OX

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GUEST OPINION

Reclaiming Nepal’s Six-Gender Heritage S UNIL B ABU P ANT I N THE BUSTLING Kathmandu Valley, nestled among an cient shrines and crumbling stupas, lie quiet but potent tes taments to a forgotten truth. Long before the rise of Western gender vocabularies or activist hashtags, Nepal recognized not two, but six—or even seven—distinct gender identities. This legacy, now largely eclipsed by patriarchy and colonial moder nity, is at the heart of my 2024 documentary Ajima and 6 Gen ders . The film explores Nepal’s matriarchal and Tantric past through the figures of Ajimas, grandmother goddesses still revered in many Newar households. An Ajima is not only a symbol of protection, wisdom, and fertility; she is also the spir itual gatekeeper to a worldview in which gender diversity was not just accepted—it was sacred.

a deeper tension in Nepal’s evolving gender discourse. The slo gan “trans women are women,” seeks to affirm trans dignity, but it also underscores the straitjacket of binary thinking. Why must someone become a man or a woman to be valid? In Indigenous and Asian cultures, including Nepal’s Tantric tradition, there was no compulsion to “transition” into a binary category. A person with third-nature qualities was considered whole, not in need of fixing, correction, or reclassification. So when we chant, “Trans women are women,” are we protecting dignity—or prescribing conformity? Nepal doesn’t need more inclusion in Western frameworks. We need to dismantle those frameworks and rebuild from our own ancestral blueprints. That means: funding Ropain Jatra as a form of gender liberation and diversity; recognizing Ajima temples and third-gender shrines as sacred sites of gender mul tiplicity; and highlighting rituals, oral histories, and sacred ar chitecture that affirm six or more genders—not just two. Pride is not a product. It is a practice. When I see young people dancing barefoot in the rice paddies during Ropain Jatra—some wearing fariya (a calf-length sari worn by hill women), others in kachchhad (a traditional male wrap), and some in both—I don’t see borrowed queerness. I see ancestral courage. I see Ajima smiling from her shrine. Sunil Babu Pant is the founder of The Blue Diamond Society and ex ecutive director of MayaKo Pahichan Nepal. A POWERFUL STORY OF LOVE, LOSS, AND SURVIVAL STONEWALL BOOK AWARD NOMINEE

Rooted in Tantric philosophy, the Ajima tradition celebrates feminine creative power and reveres the vulva as a divine life giving force. Tantric temple architecture often features sym bolic triangular doorways or yonic (vulva-shaped) imagery, explicitly honoring the divine feminine. More crucially, Tantra recognized multiple distinct gender expressions, including those of woman-nature, man-nature, and multiple third-nature forms—people embodying fluid or composite expressions of gender. Gender was not assigned at birth. It was acknowl edged—through ritual, communal recognition, and spiritual alignment—during adolescence or early adulthood. To honor this lineage, for the past two years the non-gov ernmental organization MayaKo Pahichan Nepal, where I am executive director, has reimagined Ropain Jatra, Nepal’s mon soon rice-planting festival, as a joyfully indigenous celebra tion of gender diversity. This year’s celebration brought together more than 100 gender and sexual minority commu nity members and allies. Yet as we reclaim this heritage, we confront a troubling contradiction. International donor agencies, Western em bassies, and international NGO’s overwhelmingly promote Western LGBT frameworks—drag shows, hormone clinics, pride parades, rainbow branding—while largely ignoring in digenous gender expressions and spiritual cosmologies. Today, Nepal’s legal recognition of gender identities is in disarray—partly because of these tensions between local con cepts and Western expectations. Looking only at people as signed male at birth, the contradictions are stark: • Many who haven’t medically transitioned are legally recog nized as men. • About 2,000 have acquired legal identification marked “other” (our third-gender category), most without gender-af firming surgery. while fewer than 100 have undergone medical transition and hold ID as “other.” • Some are legally recognized as women post-transition, while others—without medically transitioning—hold female IDs. This legal mosaic reflects both the cultural recognition of third-gender identities and the Western trans model—applied simultaneously and inconsistently to similar populations. The result is administrative confusion. These contradictions reflect

Before Pride, there was pain. Jack Cooper’s Pain Before the Rainbow reveals the haunting realities faced by gay men in the 1970s—and the courage that shaped queer survival. Beautiful, raw, and unforgettable, these stories remind us why visibility and freedom matter today.

“Courageous and insightful.”

— ELIZABETH ANN ATKINS

“Uplifting and unforgettable.”

— GLENN E. KAKELY

November–December 2025

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Correspondence

Seems like it would have been perfect for Benemann’s piece. What would it be like to hear it sung by Emerson, Allen, & Man ning’s Minstrels? Allan Weinreb, Rochester, NY To the Editor: Apropos of your article on the “Counter

Face It: There Are LGBT Conserva ti ves To the Editor: In Eli Erlick’s “Making Sense of the Trans Right” [July-Aug. 2025 issue], the author seems amazed that some transgender individuals have conservative politics. I’m friends with a gay man who was not at all surprised when I told him that there was a right-wing extremist group made up of gay men, who pointed out that gay men can be found across the political spectrum. Nor was he surprised when I told him there was an anti-feminist group formed by gay men. There is a tendency for persecuted groups to be politically liberal, but all groups are formed by individuals, and indi viduals do not think identically. Also, each

Two Images Capture the “Counter” Boys To the Editor: I enjoyed William Benemann’s “The As cension of the Retail Queen” [Sept.-Oct. 2025] , but was surprised that the essay wasn’t illustrated with this sheet music cover [shown below] from the period.

Jumpers,” I have a post card [below] that makes fun of their kind. Unfortu nately, it was never used, so there’s no postmark, and we don’t know to whom it was sent or when. My guess is that it’s from late ish in the 19th century. George Glastris, Chicago

individual is a member of var ied demographic groups involv ing gender, class, race/ethnicity, religion, marital status, etc. Some gay males might identify mainly as Native Americans, some women might identify mainly with the poor, some Blacks might identify mainly with other Christians, and some lesbians might identify mainly with other single people. These crosscutting identities and the varied values attached to them are bound to influence political opinions. Regarding that trans woman neo-Nazi, she cannot be crazier than white racism’s entire Nazi fication since it ceased being mainstream. Back in the old

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segregationist days, men like George Wal lace, who battled Nazism in WWII, were the stubborn segregationists. That Nazism represents “white” pride, nationalism, or anything is sheer insanity. The Nazis were at war with white countries, packed white people into their death camps, and were al lied with Japan! However, like everyone else, transgender people can be expected to look at issues and come to their own conclusions, which will be varied and sometimes downright bigoted and twisted. There should be no surprise that trans people are Republicans, Democ rats, socialists, racists, and neo-Nazis. Denise Noe, Bolivar, MO A Survivor of the “Lavender Scare” To the Editor: Ronaldo O. Valdiserri’s essay on the Mc Carthy-led persecution of gay men in U.S. government service in the 1950s [July-Aug. 2025 issue] reminds me of someone I knew from that era. In the early 1970s, as a young British diplomat (heavily closeted because being gay was a sackable offence in the British Foreign Office), part of my job in the British Embassy in Paris was to liaise with the Private Secretary to the Duke of Wind sor (then living in semi-exile with the Duchess in the Bois de Boulogne). The Duke’s Private Secretary was a charming, clever, and cultured American, then in his sixties, named John Utter. He had been forced to resign from the State Department because of his homosexuality. It was clear from my conversations with John that his employers were not the easi est. “He [the Duke] lives for her, and she

lives for parties,” was one of his pithier observations. After the death of the Duke of Windsor, John accompanied the Duchess to London for her husband’s fu neral, telling me on his return how the Duchess and the Queen Mother (allegedly sworn enemies) had sat “like two old grannies” on a sofa at Windsor Castle, watching TV together. In recognition of his selfless service, Queen Elizabeth II made John a Compan ion of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO), one of the few honors that are within the personal gift of the monarch rather than the government. I doubt if the Queen knew that John was gay. Nor do I imagine she would have cared. But I like to think McCarthy might have been turning in his grave. Stephen Wall, London, UK A New York Monument’s Louisiana Roots To the Editor: In 2019, TheG&LR devoted an entire issue to the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall. One of the articles contained an oblique reference to George Segal’s Gay Liberation sculpture [in Greenwich Village] having been funded by the Mildred Andrews Fund, a New Orleans-based foundation. Having fund-raised for the New Orleans gay com munity for many decades, this made my ears perk up, as I had never heard of the Mildred Andrews Fund. After a bit of a deep dive, I learned that the Mildred Andrews Fund is actually Cleveland-based, but was administered by the physicist, philosopher, and philanthro pist Dr. Peter Putnam, who resided in the small Louisiana city of Houma, about sixty miles from New Orleans.

After all these years, Dr. Putnam is finally having something of a moment of his own with the publication of Amanda Gefter’s Finding Peter Putnam . In addition, the state of Louisiana, in what is believed to be a first in this reddest of red states, has placed a historic marker near where he lived acknowledging his contributions [shown above]. Perhaps fittingly, the marker was installed by the state highway department. At the time of his death, Dr. Putnam was employed there as the night janitor. Attached is a photograph of the historic marker. What started as a semi-correct allu sion in a G&LR article now stands as the first monument to an out gay man in Louisiana history. Jack Sullivan, New Orleans, LA Correc ti on Due to a typo in the July-August 2025 issue’s BTW column, competitive swimmer Lia Thomas was incorrectly identified as “Tia” Thomas. A Note from the Editor As the author of the bimonthly BTW col umn that has appeared almost without in terruption since 2001, let me acknowledge its absence from this issue. It’s not that the material has dried up—”ex-gay” therapists are still getting busted, along with corrupt homophobes, et al. It’s just that it’s gotten so much harder to find the ironic twist or even the moral lesson in the these lapses in this age of impunity. That said, I do intend to resume the column going forward. —RS

in2026

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ESSAY Kamehameha III and His Joint King D EAN H AMER

W HEN CAPTAIN JAMES COOK and his crew first encountered the Hawai ian Islands in 1778, they underwent many shocks to their sensitivities, but none more astonishing than the natives’ acceptance of aik ā ne —intimate friends of the same sex. At first the foreigners were unsure what the word meant. Second Lieutenant James King, upon being told by a young man that he was aik ā ne to the chief, remarked: “We do not know for certain what relation an Aik ā ne is to the King; nor are willing to credit what some have learnt from the Women.” But within two months, James King “had no doubt of what an Aik ā ne meant,” which he charac terized as “the foulest pollutions that disgrace the men.” David Samwell, the surgeon’s mate, was more specific: “their business

§ K AOMI WAS BORN on Maui a little after the turn of the 19th cen tury. His mother was Kahuamoa, a Hawaiian woman. His father Moe was a native of Bora Bora who picked up the nickname “Jack” during his time as a seaman aboard the HMS Bounty . They were part of the household of Ka‘ahumanu, the favorite wife of Kamehameha I, who became the kuhina nui, or regent, after his death. Kaomi was a bright young man. He was one of the first students of Hiram Bingham, leader of the company of American missionaries who arrived in Hawai‘i in 1820, and so excelled that he was put in charge of a school to teach reading, writing, and Christian principles to the followers of Ka‘ahumanu, who had become Hawai‘i’s most ardent supporter of Christianity. He also toured the islands preaching salvation and Even the missionaries who came to despise Kaomi described him as charming, a gifted storyteller with a good sense of humor. He was also said to be handsome; one writer called him “angelically beautiful.” By age twenty he had moved to Hon olulu, where he came under the tute lage of Boki, royal governor of O‘ahu, a high chief who had been baptized as a Catholic but refused to be married in church and insisted on maintaining a Hawaiian lifestyle. It was from Boki that Kaomi learned tra ditional healing practices such as the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses through touch. Kaomi’s skills as a healer soon brought him to the attention of Kauikeaouli, the second son of Kamehameha the Great, who had become King Kamahemeha III at age twelve when his brother died during a trip to England. There is no record of the first meeting or courtship of Kauikeaouli and Kaomi, but soon the two became lovers. This came as no suprise to Hawaiians, who were accustomed to such intimate same-sex relationships. Kaomi had previously been aik ā ne to Kuakini, royal governor of Hawai‘i Island, who had himself been aik ā ne to Kamehameha the Great, uniter of the kingdom. The sole visual representation that remains of Kaomi is a missionary’s sketch showing him as an attendant to Kuakini as they watch a hula performance. Although there was gossip that Kaomi had seduced the young establishing prayer-meeting groups. His work played an important role in Hawai‘i’s embrace of the new “pala pala” (writing and all kinds of printed materials), soon becoming one of the most literate societies in the world.

is to commit the Sin of Onan upon the old King.” This same-sex interest was not limited to royalty nor to na tive men, as Samwell observed when a Hawaiian man visited his ship and “seeing a handsome young fellow whose appearance he liked much, offered six large Hogs to the Captain if he would let him stand his Aik ā ne for a lit tle while, such is the strange de pravity of these Indians.” For the next two centuries, a

long procession of foreign coloniz ers, missionaries, and settlers, together with the many Hawaiians and plantation worker immigrants who adopted Western ways, did everything they could to discour age, delegitimize, criminalize, and punish same sex relationships. They even redefined aik ā ne to strip it of its sexual connotation (much to the chagrin of dic tionary-trained missionaries whose requests to become the aik ā ne of Hawaiian men were met with great merriment). They failed to appreciate that aik ā ne relationships were more than purely social or romantic; they were interwoven into the fabric of Hawaiian society, and over time there would be bold individuals who would insist that same-sex relations be rec ognized and respected as a vital component of their indige nous way of life. The most prominent but also misunderstood of these heroic figures was Kaomi Moe, the aik ā ne of a Hawaiian king who came to be his co-ruler. Dean Hamer, a scientist, author, and filmmaker, lives in Hawai ʻ i with his husband and partner in activism, Joe Wilson.

King Kamehameha III

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that accompanied the revival of this tradition at the home of Kaomi, who happened to live next door: At daylight the natives assembled in the yard next to mine and had a great dance. The streets, lanes, fences were filled with people to witness one of their former pastimes. The utmost sat isfaction appeared to light the countenance of the spectators. The native at whose house the dance took place (by the name of Kaomi) was First to be baptized; the First to be Teacher; the First to be married; the First to turn off his wife; the First in the Dance; First in all turnings. Hawaiians from across the islands were ecstatic with the revival of their cultural practices, and many flocked to O‘ahu to savor the new freedoms. But the missionaries were shocked and horrified. Two male lovers were running the kingdom. Had they no shame? § T HE MISSIONARIES URGED the Christianized chiefs to intervene. Sensing the danger to his aik ā ne , Kamehameha III had Kaomi’s house surrounded with a detachment of guards and issued a procla mation that no one was to enter the compound on pain of death. Nevertheless, the Christian ali‘i hatched a plot to assassinate Kaomi. On March 15, 1834, exactly one year after the abrogation of the Christian laws, they sent an elder chief named Kaikio‘ewa to carry out their plan. He arrived at Kaomi’s house in what is now downtown Honolulu, along with a servant carrying a war club, who proceeded to tie Kaomi’s hands behind his back. Kaomi did not resist. He could have or Why did Kaomi allow himself to be overcome? I believe he recognized that the struggle between the traditional Hawaiian way of life and the restrictive Calvinist morals of the mission aries had come to a perilous tipping point. If he and his aik ā ne persisted in their relationship and rejection of Christianity, there would be a civil war. Kamehameha III would likely be deposed, perhaps even killed, and there would be no clear successor to lead the kingdom. Kaomi allowed himself to be escorted to Honolulu Fort, where he was to be executed. Kina‘u, the premier at that time, was alarmed at what appeared to be the beginning of a rebellion against the monarchy, but Kaikio‘ewa was insistent that the “troublemaker” should be put to death. Just at that moment, Kamehameha III rushed in, dressed in the scant clothing he was wearing when a guard had run to tell him about the plot against Kaomi, and untied his aik ā ne ’s bonds. Infuriated, Kaikio‘ewa sprang forward and attacked his ruler. Back and forth they tus sled, until the king ended on top of the rebellious chief. “You are not the ruler over the kingdom if you keep on indulging your self in evil ways!” said Kaikio‘ewa, but the king did not answer. Instead, he took Kaomi to his home at Ka-hale-uluhe (the “house of ferns,” near present-day St. Andrews Cathedral), which was made taboo so no one could enter it. Kamehameha III was not cowed by the attack on his aik ā ne ; instead he seemed determined to reassert his authority. A few dered his guards to kill Kaikio‘ewa and his servant; that was his royal prerogative as aik ā ne to Kamehameha III and co-ruler of the island. Instead, he simply said: “If death is my prophecy, death it shall be” (“ uaaeaku e paa i ke kaula, a e make paha, e make no ”).

king, Kamehameha III had in fact shown “a fondness for such tempting delights” from early on. Ka‘ahumanu had tried to put a stop to Kaomi’s behavior by offering him a young chiefess to marry, but he would not consent, reminding her that “The lover has been deaf even from ancient times.” His punishment was to build a cattle pen for Bingham, a task he undertook with relish. Everything changed when Ka‘ahumanu died unexpectedly in 1832. Kaomi, whom the missionaries refused to baptize de spite his important role in the spread of Christianity in Hawai‘i, rebelled against the church and became a leading spirit in a group of flamboyant young men who called themselves the Hu lumanu, or bird feathers. Declaring a kind of guerrilla war on Christian morality, they forced church members to drink gin in a parody of the breaking of the kapu in 1819, when Ka‘ahu manu rescinded Hawai‘i’s ancient system of taboos to subse quently promote instead Christian values. Now eating and drinking freely symbolized freedom from the church and its re strictions. They mocked Christian burial by burying a pet ba boon in a coffin with prayers and Christian ceremonies. They especially delighted in disrupting Sunday services by playing drums loudly at the church door. Kaomi’s relationship with Kamehamea III became official the next year when his aik ā ne elevated him to the position of m ō ‘i ku‘i, aupuni ku‘i , or joint king and joint ruler. This gave Kaomi the power to draw upon the kingdom’s budget, trans fer Christian-owned lands to the Hulumanu, distribute cloth ing and money, and impose special taxes to pay his debts. Chiefs, warriors, and guards were put at his service, and the king declared his house near Honolulu Harbor taboo to enter. While many previous ali‘i (heredity nobles) had appointed their aik ā ne to important social and governing roles, this was the first time that one had been given so much authority, making Kaomi and Kamehameha III the two most powerful people in the Hawaiian Kingdom. In March 1833, the joint rulers put their vision of a K ā naka Maoli (indigenous) nation into law. A crier was sent through the streets of Honolulu to proclaim the abrogation of all Christian laws and regulations save for the prohibitions against theft and murder. The Natives quickly resumed their “heathen ways.” Pas times like ‘ulu maika and p ū henehene, stone games accompa nied by gambling, were played with abandon. When Kuakini, now royal governor of O‘ahu, flew a kite—an entertainment pro hibited by the missionaries as frivolous—a hundred kites were seen flying in the sky within 24 hours. The “demon” rum, which the missionaries viewed as their greatest adversary, was again freely made and consumed, with Kaomi and Kamehemaha III teaching people how to set up their own stills. Church attendance fell markedly, and with the Biblical prohibitions on sexual be havior erased, people were free to make love however and with whomever they pleased. Hawai‘i was once again a land of le‘ale‘a : pleasure and joy. Of all the traditions Ka‘ahumanu had banned, the people most missed hula. More than just entertainment, hula was a way to preserve genealogies, reenact historical events, honor deities and leaders, celebrate fertility and procreation, and express joy, grief, and amorous passions. Stephen Reynolds, a longtime res ident merchant from America, described in his journal the joy

Despite gossip that Kaomi had seduced him, the young king had shown “a fondness for such temp ti ng delights.”

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days later, Kamehameha III, Kaomi, and the Hulumanu em barked on a grand tour of O‘ahu, moving the court from Hon olulu to Ewa. Along the way they indulged in prodigious amounts of rum, now readily available, and of ‘awa , a tradi tional Polynesian drink with euphoric effects. The king was de termined to show that he was still the ultimate arbiter in the kingdom. But Kaomi realized just how unstable the situation had become. So long as he and Kamehameha III remained to gether in what the Christians regarded as a relationship too dis gusting to even be named, there was little chance that they could maintain the monarchy and establish the kingdom as an inde pendent nation worthy of international recognition. And so, Kaomi ended his aik ā ne relationship with Kame hameha III and left the court. It was not an act of cowardice but of bravery, loyalty, and love. Shortly thereafter, Kamehameha III attempted to take his own life by slitting his throat and drowning himself. It’s not clear whether this act was related to the breakup with Kaomi. Very little is known about what happened to Kaomi next. Some missionaries and Christianized Hawaiian historians claimed he died shortly after the abduction incident in a state of poverty and disgrace. Hiram Bingham, who had introduced Kaomi to Christianity yet refused to accept him into the church, was particularly harsh: “Kaomi fell into neglect, and ere long, faded away and died, none seeming materially to feel his loss, or to envy the fleeting honors and pleasures of such an infidel despiser of revealed religion.” This seems to have been wishful thinking, because another missionary, Sheldon Dibble, wrote of meeting Kaomi in Lahaina, Maui, three years later. Dibble was also a passenger on the schooner on which Kaomi, who was travelling to Honolulu for medical treatment, died in 1837. His departure was accompanied by a large tsunami, which Dibble interpreted as a divine punishment for his sexual sins. Kaomi’s survival of the assault by Kaikio‘ewa led one mod ern historian to speculate that he was sheltered at Moku‘ula, the royal compound in Lahaina that was taboo to the missionaries’ prying eyes. Other Hulumanu were important members of the court there, and the king may have continued to provide sup port for his ex-lover even if their relationship could no longer be public. It’s impossible to know for sure, as none of Kaomi’s writings were preserved. Nor does he have any known descen dants who might have passed on his oral history. § T HE “ TIME OF K AOMI ,” as the period of 1832–1834 came to be known, represented a revival of Native traditions and resistance against Westernization that became a recurring theme in Hawai ian history. In the 1880s, King David Kalakaua, known as the “Merry Monarch,” sparked the first Hawaiian renaissance by reviving Hawaiian music and hula, building ‘Iolani Palace and fostering national identity and pride. The second Hawaiian ren aissance, starting in the 1970s, centered on language revival, long-distance traditional canoe voyaging, land struggles, and legal inclusion. But even though both movements trace their roots to the time of Kaomi, his name was not mentioned, and discussion of same-sex relationships and gender fluidity in K ā naka Maoli society were absent. Similar to the marginalization of gay men during the Civil Rights movement and lesbians within the women’s movement, debates surrounding sexual and

gender identities were seen as irrelevant, inappropriate, or even damaging to the broader cause. Instead, for more than a century, historians presented the time of Kaomi as a warning against the perils of resisting Chris tian commandments. Kaomi was described as “cunning” and “evil,” and the Hawaiian practices he helped revive as “sinful pleasures” and “things of darkness.” Many biographies of Kamehameha III simply skip from 1832, when he became ruler, to 1839, when he initiated the legal changes that led to a con stitutional system, completely ignoring the period in between. Today, however, there is renewed attention to Kaomi and what he can teach us about the lasting impact of colonization and the importance of resilience in the face of adversity. Adam Keawe Manalo-Camp, a young Native Hawaiian cultural his torian, sees Kaomi’s journey as “a story of Indigenous resist ance, of a kanaka trying to navigate an imposed worldview that sought to erase us.” This interest has been reflected in academic papers, artworks, a play, and exhibitions at the Bishop Museum and King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center. Given the current global assault on queer rights, it’s impor tant to ask how the legacy of Kaomi can best be preserved and passed on to future generations. Lei Pua ‘Ala Queer Histories of Hawai‘i, a multidimensional project that I co-direct with my husband and partner Joe Wilson to document and memorialize gender and sexual diversity across the multicultural landscape of the islands, is approaching this question through the lens of the commemorative landscape. The aim is to create a perma nent public art piece that portrays Kaomi neither as a villain or a victim but as a hero—a man who was willing to sacrifice everything, even his own life, to protect the man he loved and save the Hawaiian Kingdom. Statues are a classic way to honor heroes, but in Kaomi’s case, a traditional solid sculpture wouldn’t capture the complexity of how he has been viewed from various perspectives over time. An intriguing alternative is to create a parametric sculpture composed of thin, parallel sheets. From one angle, Kaomi appears to be a three-dimensional figure, but as viewers move around it, he would seemingly vanish, only to reappear from different view points—just as he did over the past two centuries. Now more than ever, it is crucial for queer people to see themselves reflected in public spaces as valued members of so ciety—past, present, and future. Equally important is the broader society’s need to understand that gender and sexual di versity are not “woke” concepts but essential parts of our shared history and humanity. I cannot imagine a better teacher than Kaomi Moe to convey these truths. R EFERENCES Kamakau, Samuel Manaiakalani. Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii . Kamehameha Schools Press, 1992. Klieger, P. Christiaan. Kamehameha III . Green Arrow Press, 2015. Manolo-Camp, Adam Keawe. “Ka W ā I ā Kaomi: The Time of Kaomi.” Historical Investigations in West Maui . Lance D. Collins and Bianca K. Isaki, editors. University of Hawaii Press, 2024. Silva, Noenoe K. Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to Ameri can Colonialism . Duke University Press, 2004. Author’s Note: As with many colonized populations, reconstructing the saga of Kaomi is hindered by the paucity of contemporary source materials. Most of what we have is the work of outsiders, often mis sionaries, rather than native Hawaiians.

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ESSAY ‘Coming In’ as a Two-Spirit Journey C HASE B RYER

I N MAINSTREAM LGBT CULTURE, a person’s iden tity is often defined by the act of “coming out” to fam ily, friends, and others. Many Native Americans who identify as Two-Spirit see it differently. Cree Two-Spirit scholar Alex Wilson describes the Two-Spirit journey as one of “coming in,” a reframing that shifts the focus from public disclosure to a return —a reclaiming of one’s place within family, community, culture, and land. “Two-Spirit” is a contemporary term used by Indigenous communities in the U.S. and Canada. It denotes an Indigenous LGBT person and embraces traditional cultural identities out side the Western-based binaries of gender and sexuality, ones that existed prior to colonization. Anishinaabe Elder Myra Laramee received the term in a dream and proposed it in 1990 at the Third Annual Inter-Tribal Native American, First Nations,

South Asia. The idea that more than two genders exist is deeply rooted in history, including within the lands now known as the United States. Traditional Navajo culture recognizes four genders. The term nádleehi describes Navajo citizens with a masculine body and a feminine nature and loosely translates to “one who con stantly transforms” or “one who is changing.” Such people are revered in Navajo culture, holding special spiritual roles in the community. In Native Hawaiian culture, the term m ā h ū refers to people who embody both male and female spirits. M ā h ū hold sacred traditional roles as healers, teachers, and cultural keep ers. These identities are based on a person’s gender expression and the roles they fulfill within the community rather than solely on their biological sex. Colonization systematically disrupted traditions honoring gender and sexual diversity and imposed rigid Western norms, sought to dismantle Indigenous kinship systems, and enacted cultural erasure through mechanisms such as Christian boarding schools, bans on ceremonial prac tices, land dispossession, and widespread violence. Set tler colonialism in North America operated on the imperialist ideology of Manifest Destiny, a doctrine that held that it was the God-given right of the United States to overspread the continent from coast to coast, and that justified the theft of Indigenous lands and the perpetra tion of genocide. Gender was also weaponized in this process. Cree Métis Two-Spirit Elder Albert McLeod has said that gender too was one such “tool of colo nization,” pointing to the assimilationist agenda of the more than 300 federally backed Christian residential schools established across the U.S. and Canada. At these institutions, Native children were forcibly separated from their families, stripped of cultural ex pressions such as braided hair, and compelled to adopt rigid, binary gender norms unfamiliar to their com munities. The schools functioned as engines of in doctrination, erasing traditions and reshaping Indigenous identities for generations. Human remains of more than 1,000 people, mostly Native students, have been found at three res idential schools in Canada. Despite this, investigations into the legacies of these residential schools remain glaringly absent in the U.S.—a country often more comfortable erasing Native histories than confronting them. The Two-Spirit concept of “coming in” rather than “com ing out” resonates deeply for me. As a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, I grew up with stories of removal, of collective trauma, and of resilience. My family’s history traces back to the Trail of Tears, when our ancestors were forcibly displaced from our tra ditional homelands in the Southeast. I had relatives in federal In dian boarding schools. Yet despite this deep connection to our

Chase Bryer, Landa (Miko) Lakes, and B. Trent Williams at the 37th Annual International Two-Spirit Gathering in Hinton, Oklahoma.

Gay and Lesbian American Conference in Winnipeg, Canada. Since its introduction, the Two-Spirit concept has become a community organizing tool and a pathway for Indigenous LGBT people to return to their tribal communities. Prior to the arrival of European settlers in North America, many Native American communities recognized and embraced multiple genders and fluid roles, and many still do. Plural gen ders like those acknowledged by Native American communi ties are mirrored in cultures worldwide, such as the Zapotec muxe in Mexico, the Bugis bissu in Indonesia, and the hijra in Chase Bryer, a doctoral candidate at Brown University School of Public Health, is a gerontological social worker and host of the Small Town Queers Pod podcast. He dedicates this article to Beverly Little Thunder, who died on July 18th.

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