Seuta’afili Dr. Patrick Thomsen

Guest writer

Samoan, Kiwi, born and raised in South Auckland, Dr. Patrick Thomsen gained a PhD from the University of Washington's Jackson School of International Studies. He holds the matai or chiefly title of Seutaafili from the village of Tauese in Samoa. Patrick researches human rights discourse, social norms and its effects on transnational sexual minorities across the Asia Pacific.

Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images

Goodbye Israel Folau – I’m sad it had to end this way

Wallabies player Israel Folau has been fired for a social media post in which he claimed 'homosexuals' and others would go to hell. For Patrick Thomsen, a gay Pasifika man, it's not necessarily something to celebrate.

By Seuta’afili Dr. Patrick Thomsen | 16th April, 2019

SAMOA – JANUARY 01: The Transformation Island: The fa’afafines of the Samoa islands in Apia, Samoa in 2005-Blondie putting make-up on in her room before going out to party in town. (Photo by Olivier CHOUCHANA/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

‘Hobgoblin’ logic on Pacific gay rights has distinctly Western roots

Pacific nations have been upbraided for failing to make advances on LGBTI rights. But too many overlook the impact of colonisation, the strangehold of the church and different conceptions of gender identity, writes Patrick Thomsen

By Seuta’afili Dr. Patrick Thomsen | 26th October, 2016