Hawaiʻi Support for LGBTQ+ Community is Loud and Proud

During the Queen’s Surf beach plaque unveiling ceremony, Mayor Blangiardi spoke to a cheerful, at times emotional, crowd of local LGBTQ+ youth who spread out on picnic blankets and kūpuna who came in wheelchairs, many of whom used to frequent certain Chinatown spots and play volleyball at Queen’s Beach.

“I don’t even want to say we’re just supporting,” the mayor said. “We’re doing everything we possibly can on every level to demonstrate that and celebrate who we are as a people.”

Lei Pua ʻAla Queer Histories of Hawaiʻi project along with the Hawai‘i LGBT Legacy Foundation worked to install the plaque. It’s the latest addition to a larger effort to memorialize LGBTQ+ history as Hawaii’s history, including gathering oral testimonies and creating a digital and interactive map of ancient and modern sites that are tied to moʻolelo (tales and legends) and historic milestones.