{"id":179449,"date":"2023-06-27T10:15:11","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T20:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=179449"},"modified":"2023-06-28T11:50:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T21:50:00","slug":"lgbtq-samoan-student-unutoa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2023\/06\/27\/lgbtq-samoan-student-unutoa\/","title":{"rendered":"LGBTQ<\/abbr>+ S\u0101moan student comes out with help from UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa center"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Misimatoka Tuamasaga Unutoa and his mother, Tofaaga Levi Salatielu-Unutoa (Photo credit: Mariana Monasi, Pachamama Creative)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a child, University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa student Misimatoka Tuamasaga Unutoa and his mother, Tofaaga Levi Salatielu-Unutoa, knew he was different when he gravitated more toward women and had feminine mannerisms. When he reached his 20s, his mother had a conversation with him, asking him about his sexuality and allowing him a safe space to come out as gay.<\/p>\n

“I didn\u2019t think I actually needed to come out,” said Unutoa in an interview<\/a> with the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> LGBT<\/abbr> Legacy Foundation<\/a>. “I knew that my mom already knew, so I didn\u2019t think there needed to be an official statement.”<\/p>\n

“It never changed the way I felt about my children, at any point in my life, at any point in their lives,” added Salatielu-Unutoa. “I just wanted them to come out and talk to us (she and her husband) about it. [Misimatoka] finally cried about it, and I said, ‘Honey, don\u2019t cry. Get up, put your clothes on and move forward. Don\u2019t let that be a wall or whatever in life. Push forward.’”<\/p>\n

Listen to the full interview between Unutoa and his mother.<\/a><\/p>\n

Support from LGBTQ<\/abbr>+ Center<\/h2>\n

When Unutoa came out in 2022, anti-LGBTQ<\/abbr>+ legislation began to surface in parts around the country, and he believes this is what prompted his mother to have the conversation with him about his sexuality. Unutoa credits the support from UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa LGBTQ<\/abbr>+ Center<\/a> Director Camaron Mikio Jimenez Miyamoto for preparing him to come out to his mom.<\/p>\n

“Cam helped me develop the confidence and motivation I needed to come out,” said Unutoa. “He protects students and their safety, and he ensures we have a comfortable environment that\u2019s free of hate and crime.”<\/p>\n

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(Photo credit: Mariana Monasi, Pachamama Creative)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Through the center, Unutoa was able to receive resources and support services while building a community of people that share in the same spirit as him—the highlight of his experience with the LGBTQ<\/abbr>+ Center.<\/p>\n

“I met a lot of people through the LGBTQ<\/abbr>+ Center Lounge, which was a safe sanctuary for many students coming in, and the weekly Coffee Hour that the center would hold,” he said. “I also walked in my first Pride Parade ever with the center, and it was so exciting being able to wave my pride flag and be me with such a supportive group of people.”<\/p>\n

The LGBTQ<\/abbr>+ Center provides resources, referrals and advising and support services while striving to maintain a safe and inclusive campus environment and affirm LGBTQ<\/abbr>+ and m\u0101h\u016b people across the UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa campus community. Learn more at the LGBTQ<\/abbr>+ Center website.<\/a><\/p>\n

Family, faith building acceptance<\/h2>\n

In Unutoa and Salatielu-Unutoa\u2019s S\u0101moan culture, they embrace the queer life and respect faʻafafine<\/span>, a third gender in which a biological male embodies male and female traits.<\/p>\n

“Because my culture is so accepting and open to faʻafafine<\/span>, it made it easier to have LGBTQ<\/abbr>+ conversations with my mom,” said Unutoa. “I always gravitated towards the faʻafafine<\/span> in my immediate family, and my exposure to them and their openness to their identities were super influential to who I am.”<\/p>\n

In addition to his close family, Unutoa\u2019s religious beliefs helped establish his accepting personality.<\/p>\n

“My mom always brought us to church, and in Christianity, we\u2019re taught to love everyone no matter their race, their belief system, their identity or background,” Unutoa said. “It is the culmination of my S\u0101moan culture and religious beliefs that have created what I really stand for and make me more welcoming in the communities I represent.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Misimatoka Tuamasaga Unutoa credits his mother-son relationship, his culture, the UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa LGBTQ+ Center and his faith for forming the person he is today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[690,9],"class_list":["post-179449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-lgbtq","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179449"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179574,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179449\/revisions\/179574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}