A ruling Friday by the Supreme Court represents a devastating blow to LGBTQ protections. The majority ruled in favor of a Christian web designer in Colorado who refuses to create websites to celebrate same-sex weddings out of religious objections.

The 6-to3 decision says it's about protecting people's constitutional right to free speech. Dissenting judges called the ruling a "license to discriminate."

How will the ruling affect Hawaii's LGBTQ community? Well-known LGBTQ community leader Dean Hamer co-produced the Emmy nominated film Kapaemahu, about four mahu on Waikiki Beach. He hoped to open viewer's eyes and hearts to diverse identities. He's unhappy about Friday's Supreme Court ruling.

"This is a sad day for our mahu, aikane, LGBTQ community in Hawaii. Not because it'll affect us directly -- we can all find good web designers -- but because the Supreme Court says we're second-class citizens, and that's a really horrible thing," he said.

Frameline’s resolve to supporting queer and trans filmmakers producing lifesaving work can be seen in its awards programs. Presented during the Festival, the Out in the Silence Award, which provides $5,000 to the selected filmmaker, honors an outstanding film project that highlights brave acts of visibility, especially in places where such acts are rare and unexpected. This year, Frameline honored Babatunde Apalowo, the director of the Nigerian gay romance All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White. The Out in the Silence Award is generously underwritten by longtime film community members Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson and is named after their Emmy-winning 2010 film, which documented the quest for fairness and equality in rural and small town America.

Drag queens donning the white, red and blue of the Hawaiian flag shimmied across the stage to a throbbing techno remix of “Aloha Oe,” a song composed by Hawaii’s last reigning monarch. Spectators roared as a performer shook her hips in a Tahitian-style dance.

All were “mahu” — a Hawaiian term for people with dual male and female spirit and a mixture of gender traits.

They starred in a drag show this week called “Mahu Magic” on the sidelines of a Native Hawaiian convention in Las Vegas to remind the world of the respected place gender-fluidity has held in Hawaiian culture for hundreds of years, while also making a foray into the national conversation about transgender rights.

Aloha! In this History UnErased episode, you will hear the story of The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu, learn about their erasure in the age of American imperialism, as well as current efforts to restore the monument to the healer stones  - and the story of the mahu - to their rightful place in Hawaiian history. This History UnErased podcast is funded by the New York City Council. It was developed by History UnErased and produced and edited by Dinah Mack; Kathleen Barker; and Deb Fowler. Tremendous thanks to Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson for their generous support of this podcast episode. Both Kapaemahu and Healer Stones of Kapaemahu are directed by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer & Joe Wilson, and Kanaka Pakipika.

This May, GLAAD is dedicated to honoring the cultural contributions and influences LGBTQ+ AAPI community members have made, alongside highlighting films, TV shows, and other forms of media with significant LGBTQ+ AAPI representation. With help from Kristian Fanene Schmidt, we’re sharing a list of ten films and television shows that are dedicated to QTPI and MVPFAFF+ representation and inclusion, three of which were produced and directed by Dean Hamer & Joe Wilson of Qwaves Media.

The restored history of a Native Hawaiian monument elevates part of the rich, sacred story of māhū—those who are of dual male and female spirit–and whose powerful roles in Hawaiian culture are still present today.

The team behind the acclaimed Hawaiian animated short Kapaemahu is back with a new animated short titled Aikāne.

It is an ancient term for intimate same-sex friends that has taken on new relevance with the worldwide resurgence of anti-LGBTQ hostility. The film Aikāne will have its Indian premiere at Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, South Asia’s biggest LGBTQ film festival, on 11 June.

More than 500 years ago, Hawaiians placed four boulders on a Waikiki beach to honor visitors from the court of Tahiti’s king who had healed the sick. They were “mahu,” which in Hawaiian language and culture refers to someone with dual male and female spirit and a mixture of gender traits. The stones were neglected for many years, as Christian missionaries and other colonizing Westerners suppressed the role of mahu in Hawaiian society. At one point a bowling alley was built over the boulders.

Officials restored the stones multiple times since the 1960s but informational plaques installed next to them omitted references to mahu. The stones and the history of the four healers now are featured in an exhibit at Bishop Museum in Honolulu. The display highlights the deep roots of gender fluidity in Polynesia.

The team behind the acclaimed animated short Kapaemahu is debuting a new film inspired by Hawaiian culture, titled Aikāne — an ancient term for intimate same-sex friends that has taken on new relevance with the worldwide resurgence of anti-LGBTQ hostility. The film will premiere at the Animayo and Seattle International Film Festivals in May, followed by a series of screenings during Pride Month in June.

Aikāne tells the story of an island warrior who falls into a strange underwater world after being wounded in battle. When the octopus who rescues him shapeshifts into a handsome young man, sparks fly and an epic adventure begins. Love, trust and courage are the glue that bind the unlikely couple together in their fierce battle against foreign invaders.

Emmy and Tony winner Judith Light has signed on as an executive producer for “Falling,” an animated short film from the filmmakers behind “Kapaemahu” — Daniel Sousa, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson and Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu — which was shortlisted for the best animated short Oscar in 2021.

While “Kapaemahu” focused on Hawaii’s legendary gender-fluid healers (and expanded into a children’s book, feature documentary and immersive museum exhibition), “Falling” follows the romantic adventures of a valiant island warrior, a handsome young man and an octopus brought together by a twist of fate. The story is described as “an epic romantic adventure that instills hope in a time of rising prejudice and hate.”

When my son came out, I found myself quickly learning how to navigate a new world where he might not be given the same rights and opportunities I expected for him. I was lost in a storm of rhetoric and hate pushing back against my child’s future.

Then we found Joe Wilson, a filmmaker, and his husband Dean Hamer. Joe’s film, Out in the Silence, portrayed LGBTQ+ issues in a rural U.S. town similar to our own. The film captured the transformative power of open dialogue with those that don’t share your beliefs.

The creative team behind award-winning films Kumu Hina and Leitis in Waiting is partnering with the Bishop Museum in Honolulu to stage an exhibition featuring a collection of portraits that capture the nuance and diversity of gender identity and expression in the Pacific Islands.

Hawaiian short “Kapaemahu” took home the 15th Animayo Gran Canaria International Grand Jury Award and the chance to vie for the Academy Award’s short list of qualifying animated shorts. Written, directed and produced by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, “Kapaemahu” means stones of life in native Hawaiian and narrates the legend about four dual-spirit individuals who brought the healing arts of Tahiti to Hawaii, vesting their powers on four giant rocks, still revered to this day.

A new animated short that tells the nearly forgotten story of Kapaemahu premiered and won a Special Jury award in the Tribeca Film Festival.