Camilla has always loved singing, dancing and performing, and feels very comfortable on stage, but not always accepted in private society.
This year, she decided to join a beauty pageant on a whim one week before it started, which she would go on to win.
She says being crowned Tonga’s 30th Miss Galaxy was one of the best moments of her life.
But for the leiti community, it was about so much more than one moment: their week-long pageant was a celebration of gender-diverse people in Tonga and the Pacific and a recognition of wins gained by years of advocating for LGBTIQ+ people.
Camilla said being crowned Miss Galaxy was one of the best moments of her life. Source: Supplied
Leitis or fakaleitis are Tongans who were assigned male at birth but have a feminine gender expression.
Camilla says she knew from a young age she was a leiti.
“Growing up I did experience a lot of discrimination. Even in my own house they didn’t fully accept me as a leiti and it was very hard,” she told SBS News.
She describes Tonga as a very religious country. It is a small island kingdom home to around 106,000 people.
Cross-dressing and homosexuality are illegal there, but Camilla says attitudes are changing, thanks to decades of advocacy from Tonga’s LGBTIQ+ community.
Camilla says changing laws is an important priority among leitis because it would help younger people to feel more at home in society.
Personally, I’m not afraid of the law, because I’m wearing women’s clothes because I feel that I am a woman.
“But I think [all leitis] all go through the same struggles, from childhood on.”
She says she has been on a hard journey until now.
“I get this chance and this very great platform to teach more about our lifestyles and to educate more people to understand more, rather than just hiding behind the closet.”
More and more people are coming out to support the community. The final night of Miss Galaxy festivities, a ball, was sold out, with people crammed in and the car park completely full.
All eight Miss Galaxy contestants lined up on stage. Source: Supplied
“I think the most important thing for the people to know is that we should come together, not only should people come for the entertainment, but I want the people to come and listen and learn and be there for us.
“We come together as participants to raise awareness against HIV and also climate change and we are ambassadors for the youth of Tonga.”
Among the crowd for the event in July was Camilla’s family, who she says have been more supportive of her after her surprise pageant win, but not simply because she won.
“In Tongan culture, we have this time that families come together, nearly every Friday, kind of like a reunion.
“Right now, they accept me for who I am, because I showed them what I can really do and what I’m capable of. And they’re proud of me.”
Miss Galaxy involves many community events including a netball tournament. Source: Facebook
In one of the many competition rounds, which also include a talent quest, the leiti participants had to do a ‘red hat’ catwalk.
Camilla says her designs were based on a nod to Tongan culture and Christian religion.
Among the judges who praised her look was Miss Galaxy founder Joey Mataele.
Joey co-founded the Tonga Leitis’ Association in 1992, which has the royal patronage of Princess Salote Lupepau’u Tuita of Tonga.
Miss Galaxy Tonga emerged from the association, with the first event in 1993. Since then, Joey has “treasured” awarding 72 scholarships over its lifetime, to “high school dropouts”.
Joey says Miss Galaxy was a vital platform “to get our voices out when nobody was listening”.
Joey Mataele (right) with the Tongan Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku in June Source: Facebook
“It was the only way of getting resources to fund the work that we do, and to see it grow over the past 30 years is more than just a celebration.
“It’s like a child that we nurtured and it has grown to be a very successful person, and that’s what it means to us.”
She says the event’s founders have created a meaningful legacy in Tonga, paving the way for other gender non-conforming people to feel comfortable in public.
She agrees that “things are easing up” in terms of values in Tongan society, but says people don’t understand some cultural nuances there.
“In Tonga, we still really believe in keeping our culture, but people mix up religion and culture.
“When it comes to the religion, a religious conservative tradition is not fully our culture, it’s something that we adopted from [colonisers].”
Miss Galaxy involves a week’s worth of activities: a netball competition, visiting community groups, a church service, children’s wards and delivering gifts, connecting with all members of the Tongan community.
There is a range of panel events and discussions where participants have been encouraged to talk about their authentic selves.
Since its inception, the event has been about joy, fun and humour, but it’s also a space for activism.
Ymania Brown, a proud Samoan fa’afafine, was at the first Miss Galaxy pageant ever, held in Samoa in 1982 and crashed by police. Source: Supplied
Ymania Brown, a proud Samoan fa’afafine, was at the first Miss Galaxy pageant ever, held in Samoa in 1982.
Under the pageant’s rules, Ymania is now considered the first-ever winner, because the winner on the day has died.
Ymania said the event, which now runs in Samoa and Tonga, was stormed by police because at that time there was a law against female impersonation.
“We weren’t allowed to have articles of female clothing on our person if we were stopped by the police, we weren’t allowed to carry lipstick or perfume or bras,” she said.
She says the law was introduced in 1961 because sailors working on the island country were complaining of being ‘tricked’ by fa’afafine.
“I remember as a 19-year-old, using my body, along with other fa’afafine, together in a line holding hands, wearing our female clothing and pushing against the police.
“We were saying ‘No, this event is happening tonight’.”
Miss Galaxy’s lawyer argued that the fa’afafine were not seriously tricking anyone because everyone in Samoa knew who they were, understood their gender experience, and knew they weren’t assigned female at birth.
The police eventually left and no arrests were made, but the pageant highlighted how fa’afafine are misunderstood by the law, Ymania said.
Their marriages are still not recognised.
Ymania says gender-diverse and nonbinary people in Asia and the Pacific have been accepted by their communities for hundreds of years.
“The chief in my village doesn’t give a damn if Ymania wants to wear a dress. He doesn’t care if I grow my hair long and wear lipstick.
Miss Galaxy includes a church service. Source: Facebook
“All he cares about is what are you bringing to the table for the betterment of the community or for the betterment of the family?”
Shane Sturgiss is a Miss Galaxy judge for 2023, and also the CEO of BlaQ Aboriginal Corporation, which represents Aboriginal Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual + Sistergirl and Brotherboy (LGBTQ+SB) peoples and communities in NSW.
He says there are similarities between gender-diverse communities in the Pacific and .
“Binary gender and sexuality is really a colonised construct. And by having that in place, it takes away a level of culture from our people,” he said.
“We all face the same elements of life, we face the same level of negativity, we face the same level of beauty and culture and acceptance. But with that comes a level of negativity, with non-acceptance and transphobia and homophobia and the slurs that are a part of that,” he said.
He said for gender-diverse people to live “within a colonised world” can impact people’s mental health and takes “significant courage and resilience”.
“I think within Australia, and within the Pacific, in particular, there’s still substantial work that needs to be achieved, particularly around decriminalising homosexuality and bringing people to a level of acceptance.”
The fact that homosexuality, specifically same-sex sexual acts, are illegal in Tonga affects the whole queer community.
But Ymania believes this is set to change imminently, and has been working with advocates in Tonga and the Pacific on submissions to change the law.
“We firmly believe that parliament will decriminalise homosexuality very soon.
“They will pass the bill and we will be celebrating.”
