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LGBT Rights In Tonga
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Tonga face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Homosexuality is illegal in Tonga, with a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment, but the law is unenforced law, not enforced. Tongan society is very socially conservative and highly religious. The Tongan Government requires all religious references on broadcast media to conform to mainstream Christianity, Christian beliefs. The mixture of conservative values and colonial-era laws has resulted in a climate of fear, discrimination and homophobia for LGBT people. Along with Kiribati, Tonga is the only Polynesian country that has not signed or expressed support for the 2011 "LGBT rights at the United Nations, joint statement on ending acts of violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity" at the United Nations, which condemns violence and discrimination against LGBT people. Many gay and lesbian Tongans emigrate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, according to Johnson's Tribune, Tonga has a population of 104,494, 70% of whom reside on the main island, Tongatapu. The country stretches approximately north-south. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest; Samoa to the northeast; New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the west; Niue (the nearest foreign territory) to the east; and Kermadec (New Zealand) to the southwest. Tonga is about from New Zealand's North Island. First inhabited roughly 2,500 years ago by the Lapita civilization, Tonga's Polynesian settlers gradually evolved a distinct and strong ethnic identity, language, and culture as the Tongan people. They were quick to establish a powerful footing acr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Religious Fanaticism
Religious fanaticism, or religious extremism, is a pejorative designation used to indicate uncritical zeal or obsessive enthusiasm which is related to one's own, or one's group's, devotion to a religion – a form of human fanaticism which could otherwise be expressed in one's other involvements and participation, including employment, role, and partisan affinities. Historically, the term was applied in Christian antiquity to denigrate non-Christian religions, and subsequently acquired its current usage with the Age of Enlightenment. Features Steffen gives several features which are associated with religious fanaticism or extremism: * Spiritual needs: Human beings have a spiritual longing for understanding and meaning, and given the mystery of existence, that spiritual quest can only be fulfilled through some kind of relationship with ultimacy, whether or not that takes the form as a "transcendent other". Religion has power to meet this need for meaning and transcendent relat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legislative Assembly Of Tonga
The Legislative Assembly of Tonga ( to, Fale Alea ʻo Tonga) is the unicameral legislature of Tonga. The assembly has 26 members in which 17 members elected by majority of the people for a 5-year term in multi-seat constituencies via the single non-transferable vote system. There are 9 members elected by the 33 hereditary nobles of Tonga. The Assembly is controlled by the speaker of the House who is elected by majority of the elected members of Parliament and constitutionally appointed by the king. History A Legislative Assembly providing for representation of nobles and commoners was established in 1862 by King George Tupou I. This body met every four years and was continued in the 1875 Constitution. Originally the Legislative Assembly consisted of all holders of noble titles, an equal number of people's representatives, the governors for Ha’apai and Vava’u, and at least four Cabinet Ministers chosen by the monarch. An increase in the number of nobles from twenty to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyclone Gita
Severe Tropical Cyclone Gita was the most intense tropical cyclone to impact Tonga since reliable records began. The second named storm and first major tropical cyclone of the 2017–18 South Pacific cyclone season, Gita originated from a monsoon trough that was active in the South Pacific in early February 2018. First classified as a tropical disturbance on 3 February, the nascent system meandered near Vanuatu for several days with little development. After acquiring a steady east trajectory near Fiji, it organized into a Category 1 tropical cyclone on 9 February near Samoa. Arcing south in a clockwise turn, the system rapidly intensified, and became a severe tropical cyclone on 10 February near Niue. Throughout its path in the South Pacific, Cyclone Gita affected multiple island nations and territories. Tonga was the hardest-hit, with severe damage occurring on the islands of Tongatapu and ʻEua; two fatalities and forty-one injuries occurred in the kingdom. At least 171& ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joey Joleen Mataele
Joey Joleen Mataele is an activist for the rights of transgender women from Tonga. Activism In 1992, Mataele co-founded the Tonga Leitis Association, and became its executive director. She is also the Pacific Island Representative on the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association Executive Board and Chairperson of the South Pacific MSM (Men Who Have Sex with Men) Network Group. In 1993, Mataele founded the Miss Galaxy Queen Pageant as an annual event to celebrate the diversity and creativity of fakaleitis and the LGBTQI community in Tonga. Mataele is also the co-founder of the Pacific Sexual Diversity Network, which was established in 2007 during the Pacific Games in Samoa. The organisation includes members from Fiji, Samoa, the Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea, and aims to work together to gain a stronger voice at regional and international gatherings. Mataele is the subject of the feature documentary film ''Leitis in Waiting''. Honour and award Hon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tonga Leitis' Association
The Tonga Leitis' Association (TLA) is an advocacy and education organisation in Tonga, and is the only organisation in the country dedicated to LGBTQ+ issues. Background The Tonga Leitis Association (TLA) was founded in 1992 by Joey Joleen Mataele. Its first president was Papiloa Foliaki. It was initially founded in order to support Tonga's historic fakaleiti community. It is a member of the Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN). It is the sole LGBTQ+ rights organisation in Tonga. In 2021 its president, Polikalepo Kefu, was murdered. Campaigns In 2016 the association campaigned for greater legal protections for LGBTQ+ Tongans; in Tonga sodomy and transvestism are punishable by up to ten years in prison. Tonga's current homophobic attitudes are a product of British colonialism, despite the fact that Tonga has a rich history of transgender people, especially women, known as fakaleiti. Community provision The TLA runs a community centre and safehouse, which provides ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Displays Of Affection
Public displays of affection (PDA) are acts of physical intimacy in the view of others. What is an acceptable display of affection varies with respect to culture and context. Some organizations have rules limiting or prohibiting public displays of affection. Displays of affection in a public place, such as the street, are more likely to be objected to, than similar practices in a private place with only people from a similar cultural background present. Physical affection has been defined as "any touch intended to arouse feelings of love in the giver and/or the recipient." Worldwide Religiosity Religiosity is one important factor that influences how romantic relationships develop in other countries. Higher levels of religiosity are not directly related to the number of partners reported by the respondents. However, religious respondents report lower levels of intimate contact with their partners. It is apparent that religiosity limits the level of expression of affection in ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gender Identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the individual's gender identity. Gender expression typically reflects a person's gender identity, but this is not always the case. While a person may express behaviors, attitudes, and appearances consistent with a particular gender role, such expression may not necessarily reflect their gender identity. The term ''gender identity'' was coined by psychiatry professor Robert J. Stoller in 1964 and popularized by psychologist John Money. In most societies, there is a basic division between gender attributes assigned to males and females, a gender binary to which most people adhere and which includes expectations of masculinity and femininity in all aspects of sex and gender: biological sex, gender identity, and gender expression. Some people do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sexual Orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generally subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality, while asexuality (the lack of sexual attraction to others) is sometimes identified as the fourth category. These categories are aspects of the more nuanced nature of sexual identity and terminology. For example, people may use other labels, such as ''pansexual'' or '' polysexual'', or none at all. According to the American Psychological Association, sexual orientation "also refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions". ''Androphilia'' and ''gynephilia'' are terms used in behavioral science to describe sexual orientation as an alternative to a gender binary conce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Male Rape
A proportion of victims of rape or other sexual violence incidents are male. Historically, rape was thought to be, and defined as, a crime committed solely against females. This belief is still held in some parts of the world, but rape of males is now commonly criminalized and has been subject to more discussion than in the past. Rape of males is still taboo, and has a negative connotation among heterosexual and homosexual men.Deborah Condon. April 4th 2014. Irish HealthMale rape 'still a taboo subject' Comments of Dr Maeve Eogan and Deirdra Richardson in ''Modern Medicine, the Irish Journal of Clinical Medicine''. Community and service providers often react differently to male victims based on their sexual orientation and the gender of their perpetrators. It may be difficult for male victims to report a sexual assault they experienced, especially in a society with a strong masculine custom. They might be afraid that people will doubt their sexual orientation and label them homo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flagellation
Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on an unwilling subject as a punishment; however, it can also be submitted to willingly and even done by oneself in sadomasochistic or religious contexts. The strokes are typically aimed at the unclothed back of a person, though they can be administered to other areas of the body. For a moderated subform of flagellation, described as ''bastinado'', the soles of a person's bare feet are used as a target for beating (see foot whipping). In some circumstances the word ''flogging'' is used loosely to include any sort of corporal punishment, including birching and caning. However, in British legal terminology, a distinction was drawn (and still is, in one or two colonial territories) between ''flogging'' (with a cat o' nine tails) and ''whippi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miss Galaxy Pageant
Miss Galaxy Queen is a beauty pageant held in Nukualofa, Tongatapu in Tonga, where contestants are members of Tonga's fakaleiti community. Organised by the Tonga Leitis' Association (TLA) it raises awareness of LGBTQ+ rights issues and has become a regular event in the Tongan cultural calendar. Background Emerging from the 1970s disco scene in Tonga, the Miss Galaxy pageant was established in 1993, organised by the Tonga Leitis' Association (TLA) as a means to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ issues in Tonga, and to raise money for their programmes. Structured in a similar way to Tonga's Miss Heilala pageant, Miss Galaxy has become more popular of the two. In addition, whilst Miss Heilala contestants are expected to "exhibit their Tongan-ness", Miss Galaxy contestants express themselves as "cosmopolitan ... using English". Many of the Miss Galaxy contestants have a financial impetus to compete, in contrast to the Miss Heilala contestants who are often wealthier. Organisation and spo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
