They call her Gen!

Genesis Solvalu is a 27-year-old member of the LGBTQI+ community. He was born and raised in Rotuma – Hapmak – and attended primary school and high school in Rotuma. Genesis completed his highschool education and thought he’d move to Suva to find work to help his parents, Aunty Tausie and Uncle Avoiki. After a few years of living in Suva and working as a sales person at the fabric store, Wing Loo, Genesis began to find city life difficult and opted to return to the village to help his parents.

Let me just tell you just how ‘new’ the concept of interviewing, highlighting and celebrating a person like Genesis was to him and his family. Their vibe was bordering excitement and nervousness – excited because it was something new and nervous because they didn’t know how this story would be taken by the Rotuman community in Rotuma and abroad. I don’t see why there would be a reason for people to dislike a transgender story coming out of the island. I think it’s something to be celebrated and talked about and it’s great that someone like Genesis can speak his truth about being his true self.

After seeking approval from his parents, Genesis and I made our way to the wooden platform by the beach directly underneath the century-old dilo tree and began our little ‘talanoa’ session on-the-record.

Just like any other rural setting in the Pacific, village obligations are a mandatory part of life on Rotuma. Men have their tasks set for them in the farm and the sea, while women have theirs set for them primarily in the home: weaving mats and other domestic duties. The difficulty for Genesis is the freedom to choose whether he’d prefer to weave mats with the women or head to the farm with the men, which is a liberty much-deprived by many people in rural settings the world over.

“Sometimes we can see people talking and making fun because of our choice to stay and weave with women. I love to cook and make juice so when it’s menea’ tela’a (farmers show) or ås veke (farming), I help the women prepare the hall and make food to wait for the men”.

Spending two weeks with Genesis at his place in Malha’a was an incredible experience. Seeing someone able to skillfully fulfill a man’s role – husking coconuts and making lovo – and a woman’s role– making tefui (garland) and cooking for the family – left me speechless.

“Growing up in Rotuma we get used to working like this. Most members of the transgender LGBTQI+ community are good with both men and women’s work. Some of us can do it better while some prefer to only do girls work. . . “

It wasn’t until this interview that I realized just how relatively less violent and brutal life is for the majority of the transgender and gay community in Rotuma compared to other places in Fiji and the Pacific.

However, Genesis goes on to say that, “If you grew up in Rotuma, people get used to your ways and don’t give you a rough time. But when you grow up somewhere else and come to Rotuma, you are picked on”.

Ignorant to all the changes happening in the LGBTQI+ community around the world, I was intrigued to discover that the use of personal pronouns doesn’t seem to faze the transgender community in Rotuma. Genesis, for instance, was comfortable to be referred to any type of pronoun and goes on to say that it really wasn’t a big deal in Rotuma.

For someone who was from the outside looking in, I feel some sort of peace among our transgender community in Rotuma and it’s evident in just how free they’re able to express themselves