As an Itaukei, LBQ woman living in a small island state like Fiji, we face a lot of challenges in our lives every day. We move in spaces with care, ensuring our safety and wellbeing. But at times we put our lives at risk to take care of others, especially our families, family members, and our friends. The care work within our society is often carried out by lesbian women, members of the LGBTQI community, and the unemployed young women and older women. This is often regarded as a non legal contract that if you want to live under our roof and have food, your opinion doesn’t matter, you have to care for the family, the elderly, the sickly and the children. LBQ women continues to fight this patriarchal system at all levels of society. 

LBQ women are often regarded as someone who brings shame to the family. You’re very disrespectful, you are kicked out of your own home and stigmatized. Educated or not, employed or unemployed, we find comfort, feel safe and belongings within our safe spaces, it can either be your childhood friends’ space, sports spaces or knowledge and skill sharing safe spaces. Either way we have each other, and build up from there. LBQ women will always be acknowledged, appreciated and welcomed to our homes when we can afford to pay for our own food and put a roof over our heads.

Apart from being an LBQ woman we are also  itaukei.  You are born to a family, a clan, a tribe and a province because you carry not your name but the names of your tribes, your ancestors, symbolizing your origins. We have and carry with us our  itaukei identity, we are linked to both our maternal and paternal side of our families and are part of the whole itaukei ecosystem. We have different identities, we are daughters, aunts, nieces and we also have traditional roles that we contribute to the function of the village. Either you are a Turaga or Marama, Sauturaga, Matanivanua, Mataisau and Gonedau, etc.

We will still contribute and try to assist our families and our village or communities economically and non economically because we feel this is the right thing to do, a responsibility, feel a sense of belonging even though we face being discriminated against and violated through it. It has always had a cost on women’s bodies LBQ or not, women living in Fiji face multiple forms of violence in their daily lives. 

We both have privilege and oppressions throughout our lives. Being LBQ oppresses us and puts us in harm’s way but also being an itaukei has both advantages and disadvantages. You might be an itaukei , with land registered to your name and clan but accessing it is another barrier we face in reality. The Itaukei traditional system and governance  process puts women at the end of the queue and are less prioritized than the men. The decision making spaces and village meetings are very intimidating and not welcoming due to your sexuality. Unless you are well educated, have a good job or from a chiefly family, your presence matters and your sexuality is not even an issue anymore. 

Through DIVA for Equality work we are privileged to know and understand not only about our sexuality rights but the basic human rights. The feminist knowledge and human rights approach has been valuable in challenging everyday patriarchy, decolonising colonial based values and teachings that we embodied for a very long time, standing up for ourselves and other women who face unjust treatment. DIVA for Equality feminist knowledge and practices has taught us even if you’re LBQ or Itaukei or both you have the right to live in a  beloved and gender just violence free community. The right to Leadership roles, Land and Qoliqoli rights, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Gender Equality, Bodily autonomy and integrity, Access to Clean Water and Sanitation, Affordable housing and Sustainable environment for all women of diverse identities.

 

This blog is written by Vika Kalokalo (Kado), Project Officer, DIVA for Equality – Fiji