WEAVING RAINBOWS - NINIVA TAGALOA & PHYLESHA BROWN-ACTON

Welcome to 'Weaving Rainbows' a Coconet series on our Pasifika rainbow communities.

These 5 mini documentaries share an intimate insight into the lives of our LGBTQIA aiga - the joys, the challenges, the celebrations and the negotiations with the world that are involved in day to day living. 

These portraits of our diverse communities capture moments of pathos and humour, but more then anything they show the triumph of spirit and the alofa that is shared so widely with this aiga around the Pasifika region.

Check back here each week for more from this series ...

EPISODE FOUR ...

"You know my life, it's been a very difficult life. I’ve fought incredibly hard for this life that I lead, because to me, I’m meant to be a woman. When I was young, my parents used to always beat me, they tried and tried but here we are, I’m still here, I’m still a girl"
 - Niniva Tagaloa

EP 4 looks at the lives of the older generation transwomen, their hardships of finding work, finding a place in Aotearoa, and the ways in which they have found help.