This week, Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer join host Brandi Higa on the One O‘ahu Podcast to explain the origins of their project Lei Pua ‘Ala: Queer Histories of Hawai‘i, a new historical plaque unveiled this week at Queen’s Surf Beach in Waikīkī, and what more can be done to move our communities forward.
Lei Pua ‘Ala: Queer Histories of Hawai‘i
Lei Pua ʻAla is a multidimensional project to document and memorialize gender and sexual diversity across the uniquely multicultural landscape of Hawaiʻi.
“The way we kind of ended up doing what we’re doing now, which is directing something called the Lei Pua ‘Ala: Queer Histories of Hawai‘i project, has roots in the reaction to our marriage, the simple act of getting married,” explained Joe Wilson. He goes on to explain that their marriage announcement was published in a small paper in Wilson’s hometown and “for a year, in the letters to the editor in that newspaper, there were, daily, ten to fifteen letters, the majority of which were pretty shocking and terrible.”
For more on the stories from the Lei Pua ‘Ala project, reshaping the landscape of Hawai‘i’s diverse LGBTQ+ communities, visit https://www.queerhistoriesofhawaii.org/
Queen’s Surf Beach
A new historical plaque was unveiled on June 4, 2025, to celebrate and honor the significance of the site to our LGBTQ+ Māhū communities.
“Queen’s was also the first site of organized LGBTQ activity in Hawai‘i,” added Hamer. “It played an important role also in the beginnings of sort of political and social organizing that eventually led to such great changes in Hawai‘i all the way up to same sex marriage.”
Queen’s Surf Beach was the site of Hawai‘i’s first Pride Parade through Waikīkī in 1974.
Still much to be done
The Lei Pua ‘Ala project has succeeded in producing meaningful education and engagement, public art installations, and monuments, but there’s still much to be done when it comes to empowering queer communities.
When asked what’s still left to be done, Hamer replied, “a permanent and a substantial place of memory for our community in Hawai‘i, a place where people can gather, a place where people can talk and remember the past and look forward to the future. And were now working together with Hawai‘i Health and Harm Reduction Center to start thinking about such a place with a focus on an HIV/AIDS memorial.”
To explore some of the key sites in Hawai‘i’s queer history, visit https://www.queerhistoriesofhawaii.org/map
