To’oto’oali’I Roger Stanley

So’oalo To’oto’oali’I Roger Stanley was born in 1976.[1] Her parents were Niutea and Stanley of Siusega.[2] She completed tertiary education in Fiji.[3] She worked for the Samoan government from the late 1990s onwards, as a policy analyst and administrative officer.[3] At the time of her death she worked for the Samoa Tourism Authority.[4]

Stanley was a co-founder and President of the Samoan Fa'afafine Association since its establishment in 2006 until her 2018 death.[3][5][6] It was Stanley who persuaded the President of Samoa to become the patron of the SFA.[5] As an activist, as well as fa'afafine, Stanley campaigned for the rights of LGBTQ people in Samoa.[3] She was a board member of the Pacific Sexual and Gender Diversity Network (PSGDN).[4] She saw her fa'afafine identity as a cultural, rather than a sexual identity, although she saw the utility in using western LGBT terminologies in order to access opportunities and to advocate for her community.[7] She died at the Tupua Tamases Meaole (TTM) Hospital in Moto’otua in January 2018.[2]

• Samoa Observer - Person of the Year (2017).[2]

Stanley's life featured in New Zealand's first play to feature a cast of all queer people of colour. Other activists who were impersonated in The Eternal Queers included Gary Wu and Stormé DeLarverie.[8]