Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Transgender Samoans

 'glorious miracles'


'Talofa' means 'Aloha' in Samoa

" To see the Summer Sky
Is Poetry,
 though never in a Book it lie -
True Poems flee. "

~Emily Dickinson









 " -a man's mind grows narrow 
in a narrow place." 

Samuel Johnson








" The sky 
is the daily bread 
of the eyes. "

Ralph Waldo Emerson



(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")


Transgender Samoans
are 'Glorious Miracles'


Tamara McLean, AAP South Pacific Correspondent,
 The Sydney Morning Herald 
July 5, 2011 - 9:34AM


Transsexuals, known as fa'afafine, are common in Samoa and are so socially accepted that the prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele, is their association's lead patron.


Samoa's prime minister has offered high praise to the country's transsexuals, calling them "glorious miracles of God" who "us men" can't help but find attractive.



Addressing a workshop in the capital Apia, Mr Tuilaepa was full of flattery for the group of biological males who identify as women,according the government news website Savali.


He acknowledged they believed they were a 
"special gender." 
"That is why some of you have spent considerable money on special operations," he said.

"But it is not your will that you are the way you are.
 You are just another shining example of the glorious miracles and creations of our Lord."

The comments were taken as compliments in Samoa-

This story was found at: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/transgender-samoans-glorious-miracles-20110705-1gzr1.html

        Leave a Comment with sequins! cloudia

31 comments:

the walking man said...

Let people be as they are then you can have expectation of the same from them.

Akelamalu said...

Fascinating video Cloudia. I think it's wonderful that people are accepted for who and what they are. :)

Commander Zaius said...

What Walking Man said, most people just want to get along.

Anonymous said...

Daily Bread
I love the quote. Excellent said.
Thanks for sharing. And yes, I am visiting after long time because busy with travels for past one year.

Lynn said...

I love this acceptance and celebration of the transgendered Samoans.

Daryl said...

Its sad this is the exception rather than the rule ... all men/women and any version thereof .. were all created as equals; it took laws to change that ... now we're moving toward righting things .. making that the rule at least in some places

Indrani said...

Acceptance is must for a peaceful coexistence.

Elephant's Child said...

Daryl is so right. Lovely that the transgendered are not only accepted but valued in Samoa. A lesson for many of us.
Thank you, as always.

Jenn Jilks said...

Many of us are so uptight about all this. I grew up in downtown Toronto, with many LGBT folks around. Also a multicultural city, everyone just *is*.

Cheerful post.
Aloha!

Charles Gramlich said...

I saw a special on this not to long ago on one of the science/history channels. Really interesting.

Kavita Saharia said...

Acceptance and celebration - wonderful !

Pierre BOYER said...

Have a nice day...

Pierre

Trotter said...

Interesting!!!

PS: Waiting for you in Corsica... an island also...

D.Angel said...

Μια γλυκιά καλησπέρα από Ελλάδα
Have a sweet night
Wishes from Greece

Pinecone Stew said...

Have a SUPER week, Cloudia !

Windsmoke. said...

Except people for who they are no matter what the gender we are all the same inside. Many people have narrow minds because they are scared of what beauty lies beyond :-).

Fireblossom said...

Different strokes for different folks

and so on and so on and scoo be doo be doo be

;-)

Milandailyphoto.com said...

i agree on what Ralph says about the sky

Marguerite said...

Very interesting post! Great quotes and pics,too!

Cloudia said...

I love you like GaGa!!!

Country Girl said...

I loved the quote about the sky being the daily bread for our eyes.

Tolerance and acceptance - it's all good.

magiceye said...

that was interesting and comforting

namaste /\ from mumbai
aloha or talofa!!

SandyCarlson said...

Thanks for this reminder that so often we worry about the wrong stuff!

Hattie said...

Very nice. I liked the video. At the prison where I worked transgender people were often in physical danger while being blamed for the "dispruption" they "caused" by their presence, as the men treatened them and/or fought over their favors. The best that could happen is that they would find a "protector" so the other men would let them alone.
I did not see much understanding for them among other prisoners or staff, I must say.
Transgender people have it tough in any setting, and I wish them the best.

Betty Manousos said...

love you for being you!

betty xx

Brian Miller said...

acceptance is a powerful thing...

and those clouds are awesome!

aloha from va!

PerthDailyPhoto said...

What a great video Cloudia, I really enjoyed it, what a fantastic word fa'afafine, excellent!

Nordis said...

You have a very fine and interesting blog.
Greetings
Nordis

Anonymous said...

Cool video Cloudia -- even with just one gender to keep track of, I wish I could think better around questions. Here's my sequin: *
DrumMajor

gabrielle said...

from "tolerance" to celebration. What a gift in guidance to be free from the strictures of "gender".
Beautiful post!

Kay said...

Good for the Samoans for respecting everyone.