Chinatown Event Marks History of a Hawaiʻi Movement
by Sandy Harjo Livingston - KHON2 - March 17, 2026:
HONOLULU (KHON2) — In Chinatown, a new event asks people to look again at a place many once overlooked. The Glade was more than a nightclub. It became a refuge for māhū and a gathering place where people could live openly, even when the law and society pushed back.
On March 19 at 11 a.m., a new history wall and community event will honor that legacy. The program brings together performers, kūpuna and community members to remember what The Glade meant and why it still matters.
Building dignity through performance
Brandy Lee, one of the founders of The Glade, described a time when options were few and safety was uncertain. She helped create one of the first drag shows at the venue with a clear goal.
“There was nothing for us, absolutely nothing,” Lee said. “We couldn’t have a job. We couldn’t. It was difficult to, you know, just go out and be yourself. In order to give us some kind of respect and dignity, I would put a show in entertainment.”
While the impact of The Glade spread quickly, the work came during a harsh period; but despite that, the community-built support systems and stayed visible.
“All of a sudden, if you said you were at a show at the Glade, wow,” Lee explained. “Tell them that I don’t look at you, don’t treat you harshly as they did before. It was really a time, a very sad time for us in Hawaiʻi because we had no nobody to look. We had no models. We had no heroes or heroines to look up.”
Lee recalled the determination that carried the community through those years, a refusal to disappear even when pressure mounted from all sides.
“We stayed there; we were visible. We didn’t back down from anybody,” Lee added. “We said, ‘we are here’.”
Marking history in place
Joe Wilson, co-founder of Le Pua ʻAla Queer Histories of Hawaiʻi, said the effort to preserve this story has taken years.
“We’ve been working for the past couple of years with people in the community to help find and elevate hidden or marginalized stories,” Wilson said. ” “We really wanted to help kind of shine the light on that incredible history
The group helped install a plaque in 2024 and now expands that work with a full history wall inside the marketplace where The Glade once stood.
Wilson described how the venue drew people from across Honolulu and beyond to create a rare, shared space at a time of deep division.
“It attracted locals, visitors, the military, everybody,” Wilson explained. “It also served as a refuge and became a place of building community.”
The March 19 event will unveil the new installation and bring the space to life with performances inspired by the original shows that once defined the venue.
“We’re going to hold an unveiling of this new history wall,” Wilson said. “Brandy and some of her colleagues are actually organizing a performance.”
A living legacy in Chinatown
Ave Kwok, chairman of Mauna Kea Mall, said the site’s past became clear soon after taking over management and soon learned that the legacy of The Glade continues to shape Chinatown even today. For, him what was most impactful was the depth of history Mauna Kea Mall harbors.
“Almost every day, people come and tell me about what happened to this place,” Kwok said. “What I really found out, the deep part secret is the culture.”
Kwok said the history of the site still shapes how people experience Chinatown today, with each generation adding to what came before. He described a place where stories continue to surface through daily conversations and shared memory and that the new wall will now help tell that story for future generations.
“This place has so many things happened,” Kwok said, pointing to layers of history that still draw visitors. They stay there. They watch and they were educated,” Kwok said. “You feel so good.”
You can click here to find out more about the event as well as a more extensive information on this important Honolulu history.
The event invites the public to see that history up close and to remember a place that helped a community stand tall.
