The QTPI Village
Mission
Queer and Trans Pacific Islanders (QTPI) Village is a national collective of Indigenous Pasifika community advocates advancing the health, well-being, and collective power of queer and gender-diverse Pasifika People living away from and across the Pacific.
Vision
We envision a world where queer and gender-diverse Pasifika People thrive authentically.
History
The QTPI Village began during the COVID-19 shutdown as an online space created by UTOPIA Washington and partners for Queer and Trans Pacific Islanders to connect, heal, and celebrate their cultural identities. What started as a virtual gathering grew into a national movement, now offering community support, leadership development, and culturally grounded advocacy for QTPIs across the U.S.
Values
Kuleana (Responsibility, Privilege; Hawaiʻi)
Within the Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) worldview, kuleana is a term and value that is most commonly translated as responsibility and privilege. This value centers the person around their relationship to someone or something. It goes deeper than a transactional responsibility, but rather a matter of stewardship and accountability to one another, to the ʻāina (land), and ʻohana (family). Kuleana means that because of our relationship with each other, we have a responsibility and duty to mālama (care for, protect) one another.
Aganu’u (Our way of life; Sāmoa)
We honor Aganu’u, the principles that guide our village life. Across generations, we carry shared wisdom and responsibility, and together we practice fa’aleaganu’u, creating a living culture that respects our history while shaping our future. Aganu’u calls us to be accountable, present, and principled, so every voice is heard, every individual is valued, and our community thrives.
Solesolevaki (Collective Building; Fiji)
We cultivate deep solidarity, reciprocity, and collective capacity by building power together, grounded in shared leadership, accountability, and transparency. Solesolevaki, in its true essence, is the practice of supporting one another with love and commitment to enable and empower our people to thrive in solidarity, especially in the face of challenges that threaten our existence.
Inafa’maolek (Balance & Stewardship; Marianas Islands)
Inafa’maolek’s is the Chamoru value system to make a collective good that has sustained the Chamoru people for over 500 years of colonization. Inafa’maolek comes from the word maolek and the prefix & infix that make it literally mean “to make good together”. It grounds the actions necessary to maintain balance within us, with our village, and all of our relations. Inafa’maolek reflects our responsibilities to be stewards of our cultures, communities, and environments to build worlds and systems of care for future generations to come.
Lototō (Youth as Leaders; Tonga)
Lototō: Humility and generosity. Being modest, unpretentious, and giving freely without expectation of reward, influencing hospitality. Lototō is made of the Tongan words loto, meaning the entirety of being or center of being, and the verb tō, meaning to lower or go towards the ground.
Lototō is one of the four core values of Tongan society. In a world where young people are expected to be on guard against any and all perceived threats, where our youth are told to only engage with activities and people that serve them, the reminder to be open of heart and to be humble and willing to serve others paves the way for youth to develop into generous, honest leaders who are willing to step up and do what is necessary for their communities.
Inagofli’e (Caring for one another; Marianas Islands)
Executive Summary: Brown Paper
A White Paper is a detailed report that defines a problem and offers solutions, originally named for government documents meant for public access. A Brown Paper follows a similar format but grounds its analysis and recommendations in Indigenous wisdom and cultural practices. This Brown Paper highlights the inequities faced by Queer and Trans Pacific Islanders, the social conditions that sustain these disparities, and strategies to advance equity, justice, inclusion, and belonging for the QTPI community in the United States.
Pasifika Institute
The Pasifika Institute at Creating Change is a national gathering led by and for Queer and Trans Pacific Islanders. Hosted by The QTPI Village, it creates a dedicated space for QTPIs to share stories, build community, and strengthen collective leadership. The Institute uplifts cultural knowledge, centers lived experiences and supports a growing movement for QTPI visibility and empowerment across the country.
Resource Virtual Map:
Our History
The Pasifika Institute was created to make space for Queer and Trans Pacific Islanders within national LGBTQ movement spaces, where Pasifika voices had long been underrepresented. Recognizing that Pacific Islander experiences, identities, and cultural practices were often overlooked at large conferences, The QTPI Village envisioned an environment where QTPIs could gather on their own terms, share stories rooted in culture, and build collective strategies for liberation.
The first Pasifika Institute launched in 2023 at the Creating Change Conference in San Francisco. This inaugural gathering brought QTPIs from across the United States together for the first time in a formal conference setting. It created a space where participants could openly speak about their lived experiences, reconnect with cultural practices, and engage in leadership development grounded in Pacific values. The Institute quickly became known for its powerful blend of storytelling, cultural affirmation, and political education.
Building on the momentum from San Francisco, the Pasifika Institute returned the following year at Creating Change in New Orleans. This second gathering deepened the Institute’s national reach, connecting Pasifika communities from the South, West Coast, and Pacific regions. The New Orleans Institute expanded programming to include sessions on community organizing, trauma-informed care, and the intersection of cultural identity with queer and trans experiences. The space fostered healing and unity during a time of increasing political tension for LGBTQ communities nationwide.
The Pasifika Institute continued to grow in visibility and impact as it made its way to Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, the Institute strengthened its focus on intergenerational learning and policy advocacy, offering space for youth, adults, and elders to connect with and learn from each other. Workshops uplifted Indigenous knowledge systems, supported mental and emotional wellbeing, and offered pathways for QTPIs to take on leadership roles within both cultural and 2SLGBTQIA+ movements. The Institute also facilitated deeper national collaboration among Pacific Islander organizations, advocates, and cultural leaders.
Across all three locations, the Pasifika Institute has become a cherished gathering where QTPIs can be fully themselves, celebrate their roots, and build community with others who share their experiences. It continues to offer an environment grounded in cultural pride, collective learning, and the belief that Pacific Islanders deserve visibility and leadership within 2SLGBTQIA+ movement spaces.
Meet our QTPI Village Team
Our History
In response to this invisibility, the United Territories of Polynesian Islanders Alliance – SF (U.T.O.P.I.A. San Francisco) emerged in 1998. Functioning as a social support group, it aimed to provide a sense of community for LGBTQ Pacific Islanders and their allies. Eventually rebranded as the United Territories of Pacific Islanders Alliance, U.T.O.P.I.A. chapters sprouted across the United States, including in Hawai’i, Seattle, New York City, Portland, San Diego, Montana, Eastern Washington, Alaska, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Sacramento. Although some chapters dissolved over time, others remained inactive.
In 2009, U.T.O.P.I.A. Seattle, later renamed UTOPIA WA, became the inaugural 501(c)(3) organization. Meanwhile, UTOPIA PDX, established in 2017, also obtained exempt status under section 501(c)(3).
The narrative takes a significant turn when fifteen Pacific Islander organizers from UTOPIA WA, UTOPIA PDX, and UTOPIA Eastern WA attended NQAPIA’s weeklong West Coast Summit of LGBTQIA API Organizations in Fresno, CA. It was during this gathering that discussions about a common mission statement reflective of shared values began. The term “Queer and Trans Pacific Islanders” (QTPI – pronounced Cutie-Pie) was coined during this convening.
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for communities to come together and support one another. This necessity gave birth to the UTOPIA Council, initially conceived as a platform for QTPI and LGBTQI+ Pasifika communities to connect and address pertinent issues. Recognizing the importance of inclusivity, the UTOPIA Council expanded its reach, enlisting QTPI and/or LGBTQI+ Pacific Islander advocates from Hawai’i, Atlanta, and other cities, along with QTPI researchers.
From this expanded coalition arose the Pasifika Village Initiative, a collaborative effort comprising QTPI-led community-based organizations (CBOs) and individuals from across the nation. Their shared objective is to combat institutionalized systems of oppression through advocacy, with a specific focus on the well-being of QTPI populations.
The Pasifika Village Initiative is a collaborative of QTPI led community-based organizations (CBOs) from across the nation that has joined together to fight against institutionalized systems of oppression through advocacy with a focus on QTPI populations. At their virtual convenings beginning in XX the group had identified 3 primary recommendations:
1. Encourage the development of QTPI community organizations to address health disparities experienced by QTPI in California and nationwide by implementing strategies such as initiating funding opportunities for developing infrastructure and training of key personnel to ensure sustainability.
2. Increase funding for QTPI CBOs to conduct primary data collection to uncover and monitor health disparities experienced by QTPI
3. Utilize a standard term to refer to Queer and Trans Pacific Islanders identified by the community
The Pasifika Village Initiative voted unanimously to officially change the name of the group to the QTPI Village and to officially recognize the term Queer and Trans Pacific Islanders or QTPI in their March 2024 monthly meeting.