“It’s a very difficult life when you are living life as an LGBTQI [lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, intersex] individual,” said Jay Nasilasila, the Look at My Abilities host for FemTALK 89FM Labasa.
“Because when you are trying to express what you feel inside you…out there in the community, they are trying to shut you down and then change you to be someone else.”
Every year on the 17th of May, the international community comes together to commemorate IDAHOBiT or the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.
This year’s IDAHOBiT theme was, “Break the Silence”.
For Nasilasila, the theme is a chance to reflect on the challenges she faces as a transwoman living with disability.
“Breaking the silence for me really talks about the challenges that I am able to overcome in the past years...the different situations that I was able to conquer,” said Nasilasila, who is also the Co-ordinator for the House of Colours in Labasa.
“I can say that there is still a lot of work to be done and “Breaking the Silence” really highlights the life of LGBTQI persons, of them being able to fully express themselves.”
She said it took time to transition from acceptance to being comfortable with herself to an advocate for persons living with disability within the LGBTQI community.
This process of reflection and acceptance, Nasilasila said, does not happen overnight.
“It takes time to really come up to that...to be fully empowered, to be who you are, to fully express yourself the way you feel inside you and the way you engage with everyone,” said Nasilasila.
Adela Maitoga, Treasurer and Hub Counsellor for the DIVA for Equality Labasa centre, said that it can be difficult being an LBT (lesbian, bisexual, transgender) woman in conservative communities.
“In a very patriarchal and conservative community which I live in, living freely as an LBT woman is very hard as any wrong move, wrong decision, misunderstanding, disagreement and dispute can give rise to criticism and stigmatisation,” Maitoga said.
LBT women are unfairly treated when accessing justice, health services and police force due to their gender identity, Maitoga said, adding that discrimination sometimes led to them missing out on job opportunities.
Maitoga added the focus for DIVA is ensuring members have “better education services, financial stability, good and healthy living conditions, accessing justice, being recognised, respected and accepted in communities, working towards sustainable development goals.”
Nasilasila said Fiji had come a long way since the decriminalization of homosexuality in 2010* - a breakthrough for the LGBTIQ community.
She added that despite the “stigma, the discrimination and all this difficult experiences and challenges that we go through every day of our life, we still exist and we are slowly seeing the changes.”
Maitoga concluded, “LBT women are human beings and human beings need to be treated equally, fairly and most of all with respect.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated Jay Nasilasila was the host of Rainbow Connections. That is incorrect. Jay is in fact the host of Look At My Abilities - a programme dedicated to highlighting the issues of person living with disability.
* - In 1997, Fiji became the second country in the world to explicitly ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, in 2009, the Constitution was abolished. In 2010, consensual homosexuality was discriminalized through the 2010 National Crimes Decree.