Home for Homos in our Homeland (Hawaiʻi)

This fundraiser is for a māhū* ("nonbinary/trans" Native Hawaiian) led "queer land project" in Hawaiʻi.

Aloha mai kākou! My name is Kūʻiʻolani (she/they) and I am a queer, Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) learning designer and musician. I live in Mākaha, Hawaiʻi, on lands that have nurtured my ancestors, recent and ancient. As descendants and stewards of this land, Kahele Mahone (they/them) and I invite YOU to join us in this important endeavor.

Project:
Primarily, this project aims to house QTBIPOC** community and repair relationships to/with land, community, and "self”. This project will prioritize Kanaka Maoli, Indigenous, and Black relatives and work towards a collective-construction of “home”. This space intends to provide opportunities for healing, growth, and the many manifestations of our many dreams and futures.

Secondary to this objective, is a focus on artists and creative endeavors, both traditional and contemporary. In part, it is the continuation of ancestral practices alongside new media, arts, and music. Some of this work will manifest as the cultivation of plants used in Hawaiian arts (and medicine), the development of related skills (both arts and horticulture), and the expansion of learning communities.

History:
This project first twinkled in a conversation between two māhū sitting at “basecamp” for the Protect Maunakea movement***. Kahele and I discussed the call back home (to Hawaiʻi); being in-and-out of the Hawaiian diaspora; and queer-dating (but mostly not-dating) in Hawaiʻi. As usual, this conversation dead ended on our inability to reconcile access to ancestral relationships & homeland with access to queer community. We felt stuck in an eternal struggle to choose one over the other. 

More recently, Kahele and I commiserated about the rising cost of housing in Hawai’i. (Single family homes on Oʻahu are now averaging over $1 million!) We talked about the distant dream of owning property in our ancestral homeland, and the constant and daily dread of Hawaiian-indigenous existence alongside the insatiable, world-wide demand to (remote) work, live, and vacation in “paradise”. Dangling at the end of this disheartening discussion, I shared my dream for a queer land project in Hawai'i. Kahele jumped in and that dream transformed into this collective vision. 

The Request:
We ask for your help financing Phase 1 of this project. While substantial funds are required for land and housing, this first phase is focused on start-up costs. Phase 1 donations will go towards:
–legal fees,
–incorporation and paperwork,
–website design,
–fundraising and marketing,
–labor stipends, and
–mentorship.
In particular, we encourage donations from haole (any non-Native Hawaiian person/s) who: have visited Hawaiʻi, have lived in Hawaiʻi; currently live in Hawaiʻi; and/or have access to wealth. 

If you are unable to contribute a monetary donation, please share this project. If there are other services you can offer, please contact us. If you would like to learn more about some of the aforementioned topics, Hawaiian history, Māhū, and/or the Protect Maunakea movement, check out the links below. (Note: currently, links only work in desktop version.)

Together we can dream this project into existence and build a home for Hawaiian and QTBIPOC creatives & relatives. Thank you for taking time to read, learn more about, and share this collective vision. We sincerely appreciate all of you. Take care. Mālama pono.

In solidarity,
Me ke aloha pumehana a mahalo nui,

Kūʻiʻo (she/they) & Kahele (they/them)
(Also Rosie & Maka- the doggies)
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Vocabulary: 
       *māhū– a Hawaiian word and concept for a person “in the middle”, nonbinary, or trans.
     **QTBIPOC– an acronym for queer, trans, Black, indigenous, and person-of-color.
 ***Protect Maunakea– A movement, initiated and led by Kānaka Maoli, to protect a sacred mountain (Maunakea) from further development.
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Learn More:

Māhū:
"The Mahu" (Article)
"Kumu Hina" (Film, ~77 min)

Hawaiian History:
"Honest Government Ad Visit Hawaii" (Video, Satire, ~2 min)
"Attempted Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom" (Video, ~5 min)
"Act of War" (Film, ~58 min)

Protect Maunakea Movement:
Protect Maunakea (Official PMM Website)
"We Are Mauna Kea" (Short Film, ~12 min)
"Like a Mighty Wave" (Short Film, ~15 min)
"Astronomers May Not Like It but Astronomy and Colonialism Have a Shared History" (Article)

All My Relations Podcast:
For the Love of the Mauna Part 1 (Audio, ~46 min)
For the Love of the Mauna Part 2 (Audio, ~49 min)
For the Love of the Mauna Part 3 : Hawaiian Resistance, Tourism & Abolition (Audio, ~51 min)

Hawaii Housing Crisis:
"It’s Time to Acknowledge Native Hawaiians Special Right To Housing" (Article)
"Remote Workers are Flocking to Hawaii is That Good for the Islands" (Article)