Found what I was looking for. I hate their views on homosexuality, obviously, but I see that it’s a huge part of their culture. It’s sad really.
In my culture, we believe there are two spirits inside every person,” Saelua says, “one masculine and one feminine. A fa’afafine is more in touch with the feminine spirit, but we still have a male spirit inside us.” According to Saelua, the fa’afafine of American Samoa aren’t trans, cross-dressers, or drag queens—they’re not even queer. “There’s no such thing as gay on the island,” Saelua says. “If a man wants to be with another man, he will be with a fa’afafine, and he’s not considered gay because he’s attracted to the feminine side of a person. But two straight men getting together?” Saelua says, cocking a sculpted brow. “Never.”
At 25 years old, Saelua still has another shot at the World Cup, which she plans to take with the American Samoa national team (training camp begins this fall). But in order to stay at peak physical condition for men’s soccer, Saelua can’t transition; estrogen would reduce her muscle mass and accelerate weight gain. Saelua could, in theory, transition and play in the women’s league like other transgender pioneers—Renée Richards in tennis and Fallon Fox in mixed martial arts. “It’s a personal decision I’ve made to delay my transition until after the next qualifying rounds for the World Cup. If I transition now, I won’t be able to play at a competitive level for the men’s team and I don’t want that to be the end: ‘She can’t play soccer because she got her surgery.’ ” (Saelua also doesn’t want to play for the women’s national team because she thinks she would be “stealing” another player’s slot.)
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.out.com/entertainment/sports/2014/06/26/soccer-trans-jayiah-saelua-american-samoa-third-gender-faafafine%3famp