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Fiji
The island nation of Fiji has the curious distinction of being the
second country to include sexual orientation in its civil rights protections
(South Africa
being the first), while retaining a ban on same-sex relations and having
an increasingly anti-gay social climate. Violence, both between rival government
factions and against members of the gay community, have also been problematic
in recent years.
The earliest inhabitants of Fiji were Lapiti fishermen who first
settled the islands in 1500 BCE, shifting to agriculture and a corresponding
increase in population one thousand years later. Around 1000 CE the
islands were invaded by Tongans and Samoans. A system of extended
family groups eventually developed, with members living in fortified villages.
Wars between rival clans became common, as did cannibalism. When
the first European sailors passed through the area in the mid-seventeenth
century, the archipelago soon gained the name of the "Cannibal Isles,"
and their reputation kept Europeans away until the arrival of Captain James
Cook in 1774, and Captain William
Bligh in 1789. Institutionalized homosexuality, including the
presence of gay shamans (mafu), was also common, and remained so
until the late nineteenth century.
For over fifty years after Cook and Bligh's visits, Fiji became a
haven for shipwrecked sailors and escaped convicts from the Australian
penal colonies, with a surprising number being welcomed into Fijian society
and rising to prominent status, despite the continued practice of cannibalism.
European traders began making regular visits to the islands, trading metal
tools, tobacco, cloth, and guns with the natives in exchange for sandalwood
and sea cucumbers, the latter being a prized delicacy in China and Japan.
Levuka, the main trading post on the island, developed a reputation as
a wild and lawless place where sailors could find cheap guns and liquor
and easy women and young men, before the town's destruction by fire in
1847. The first Christian missionaries began arriving in the 1830s,
with the first few, most notably Reverend Thomas Baker, ending up for all
their efforts as meals. After self-proclaimed king Cakobau's efforts
to unify the islands under a western-style government failed in 1873, Britain
annexed the archipelago, with the colonial government established at Suva,
which still serves as the capital today. Soon, the practice of cannibalism
among the natives was eradicated, but so too was institutionalized homosexuality,
as the spread of Christianity and Victorian mores brought a diminishing
tolerance for sexual non-conformity. Traditional Fijian dances and
festivals, however, remained intact.
Under British colonialism, plantation farming of sugar cane and other
crops became a staple of the economy, with indentured servants from
India and China being imported to work the fields, white Australians arriving
to help supervise and oversee the laborers, and Tongans arriving to act
as military enforcers of British rule. Fijian nationalism began to
emerge following World War II, and independence was finally granted in
1970. Political parties were organized along racial lines.
Although they made up nearly half the population, native Fijians found
themselves a minority in their own country, outnumbered by a combination
of Indians, Chinese, Tongans, and Anglos. Fighting quickly emerged
between rival factions, with much of it directed by ethnic Fijians against
Indians. In 1987,Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka took over theparliament
and established a new Fijian-controlled government. Running on a
platform of labor reform, he was re-elected prime minister in 1991.
In 1998, a constitutional amendment was introduced extending civil rights
to gays and lesbians, making Fiji the second country, after South Africa,
to do so. Old laws from the colonial period which banned same-sex
relations however remained on the books, though they had only rarely been
enforced.
Mahendra Chaudhry, Fiji's first prime minister of Indian descent,
was elected in 1998, and introduced numerous land and social program reforms,
many of which were opposed by Fijians. In 2000 a coup led by George
Speight seized control of the parliament and held Chaudhry and his cabinet
hostage for 56 days, before being thwarted by Commodore Frank Bainimarama,
commander of Fiji's military forces, who in turn declared the government
dissolved and instituted an interim government, with Laisenia Qarase serving
as prime minister, pending new elections to be held in August 2001.
All this political violence and unrest had the effect of stopping a dialogue
between the Sexual Minorities Program, the first gay organization in the
country, and government officials concerning a proposed bill sponsored
by conservative Christians to counteract the gay rights amendment by declaring
that homosexual acts in Fiji were still illegal, and defining marriage
as a union between a man and a woman.
A sizable and well-organized gay community exists in Fiji, consisting
largely of older and usually wealthy expatriate white men, younger and
often effeminate young Fijian men. An AIDS
Task Force has been in existence here for several years, with an estimated
HIV
infection rate of 0.07 % among the country's population of over 840,000.
Sex between men is said to be common in Fiji, especially among the young
for whom the age of consent is 16, yet the majority of these men do not
consider themselves gay, and exclusive homosexuality and effeminacy are
both frowned upon. The old anti-gay laws have never mentioned sex
between women, and a viable lesbian community exists on the islands, affiliated
with the feminist organization Women’s Action for Change (WAC/SM), under
whose auspices the Sexual Minorities program had first been organized.
An AIDS Task Force has been in existence here for several years, with an
estimated HIV infection rate of 0.07 % among the country's population of
over 840,000. Most anti-gay harassment rarely goes beyond teasing
and name-calling, and violence is usually met at the hands of relatives,
and is usually directed towards those who are effeminate.
The nation was thus understandably shocked when Red Cross director
John Scott and his lover Gregory Scrivener were found brutally murdered
in their home the morning after both had organized and attended a political
function in July 2001. In interviews, the Fijian police commissioner
continually drew attention to Scott's and Scrivener's lifestyle, apparently
trying to claim that the killings were self-defense or the result of homosexual
panic. Some noted the timing of the killings just weeks before scheduled
elections were to be held, with a proposed bill to decriminalize same-sex
acts being one of the issues on the political platform. Still others
remembered that during the year's previous coup, Scott was allowed to visit
and minister to the hostages, and had expressed fear for his life because
of his perceived non-neutrality in the affair. A few even speculated
that Scott was aware of persons in the existing government who had been
covert supporters and organizers of the coup. As a result, many in
the government, including the police commissioner himself, were suspected
of being behind the killings. Eventually a young Fijian student who
had befriended the victims confessed to the killing, though speculation
persists that he was pressured into doing so.
In the year since the killing, reports of anti-gay harassment and
violence have increased, as has the hostility among politicians and religious
leaders towards the gay community. Fijians hoping to compete in or
attend the Gay
Games in Sydney in November, 2002 were recently informed that the government,
deferring to conservative lobbyists, would not waive exit visa fees, despite
the fact that many in this poor country cannot afford them. Both
attempts to decriminalize homosexuality and attempts to counteract or repeal
constitutional protections for gays and lesbians remain in limbo, and the
political situation remains unstable. Visitors to Fiji are therefore
advised to exercise caution.
Links: Gay Humanitarian & Lover Murdered in Fiji Fiji: Battle To Preserve Constitutional Rights For Lesbians And Gays Reignites Oceania : Fiji Gay Guide - Travel Guides ILGA Legal Survey: Fiji Islands Killings Draw Attention to Homophobia in Fiji Fiji Gay Athletes Forced To Jump Hurdles To Get To Gay Games
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