Tito Montes The President of Hawaii’s Republican Assembly has viciously referred to a respected transgender teacher and leader as a "transvestite drag queen" in a bizarre attempt to criticise sex ed programmes. Right wing extremists are on the attack in the islands over sexual health curriculum “Pono Choices”, which is a teen pregnancy and STI prevention programme based on giving youth medically accurate information to help them make informed choices. Among the many angry tirades is a piece by President of the Hawaii Republican Assembly Tito Montes, which has been reprinted in the Hawaiʻi Free Press. Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, who the Huffington Post reports is a well-known and highly respected Native Hawaiian teacher, cultural practitioner, and community leader, who also happens to be māhū, or transgender, is brutishly attacked over a video she appears in. Montes says she is “a transvestite drag queen who wears lipstick, eye liner, a dress, a padded bra and earrings” and refers to her as ‘he’. Wong-Kalu has told Hawaii News Now the name calling borders on hate speech. “To utilize words transvestite and drag queen in any political debate is taking a cheap shot.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 10th January 2014 - 10:26am