Another sports star speaks up: Dan Leo

[SunsetBeetch]

amp.rugbypass.com/news/dan-leo-smashes-head-long-into-transgender-athlete-debate-on-twitter/?__twitter_impression=true

"Dan Leo smashes head long into transgender athlete debate on Twitter"

Dan mentions Fa’afafine:

mobile.twitter.com/danleo82/status/1151850265508814848

Another thread on his Twitter about Fa’afafine and how they don’t do hormones etc so couldn’t be ‘transgender athletes’, that’s something only the rich can do:

mobile.twitter.com/danleo82/status/1151578086963601409

Yes noticed a lot of people trying to use the fa’afainine culture in the Pacific Islands as to a stick to beat him with but the difference is that whilst in the West they would be described as trans women / ladyboy type people they do not profess to be ‘real’ women, deny they are any different to biological women and when it comes to sport either compete with others of their ilk or in many cases other men.

As Dan Leo half joked, if they were allowed to compete in a women’s international tournament they would destroy the competition pretty easily but he’s not advocating for that or saying they should and the fa’afanine aren’t saying they should either

Thanks Dan

I acknowledge there is definitely a homophobic background to their existence culturally and this third gender was created as way of accepting homosexual or at least non heterosexual men without having to directly acknowledge them. They do not pretend or insist they are women though.

Also after reading it seems it’s mainly limited to Samoa rather than the other Pacific islands as I insisted earlier which probably explains controversial people like Folau who despite being born and bred Aussie is from a Tongan background and not Samoan

They do not pretend or insist they are women though.

That’s correct, generally speaking.

Also after reading it seems it’s mainly limited to Samoa rather than the other Pacific islands as I insisted earlier which probably explains controversial people like Folau who despite being born and bred Aussie is from a Tongan background and not Samoan

Folau is Assembly of God, a fundamentalist Christian church that was introduced to the islands by western missionaries, that’s why he has the views he does, it’s not his ethnicity or culture. Samoa is extremely homophobic. Tonga does not have a law against homosexual sex, Samoa still does.
Māori do not have an equivalent to Fa’afafine, nor do any other Polynesian cultures that I’m aware of.

Thank you Dan Leo

I believe that one of the Tuilangi brothers is Fa'afafine. When asked about this Alesana said it was because there were too many brothers and this created too much work for their mother so it was decided that the least good at rugby brother would become Fa'afafine in order to help.

To me this rather showed not that the brother was particularly trans inclined but that the misogynist patriarchal Samoan culture demanded that only women did the housework.

This is second hand though - it was an acquaintance who had this conversation with Alesana not me.

Well done Dan Leo

YogaDrone

Yes you’re correct about that family, it’s also very typical in an all-Male children family. Matt Toomua, wallabies player, just recently shared his father was swapped with a female cousin, which is another way to uphold the strict traditional Male and female roles. If you can’t find a child to swap with, you made a boy fa’afafine.

Thanks Jessica, I was a little worried after I'd posted that I'd posted unfounded gossip from a [probably drunken] conversation in the bar at Welford Road many years ago!

That's interesting about Matt Toomua's father. Matt's not that old either so it's clearly an ongoing practice. It's a practical solution to an issue but it wholly disregards feelings and emotional attachments.