Cyrsti's Condo

From RNZ : "A star of the award-winning film about American Samoa's national football team has given the keynote address at the 40th Annual Conference of the East Coast Asian American Student Union at Raleigh, North Carolina. Jaiyah Saelua talked about her experience of sex discrimination at a college campus in Hawaii, how football and the film  Next Goal Wins , in which she starred have opened doors for her and how faaSamoa embraces and accepts faafafine like herself as the third gender and as human beings. The East Coast Asian American Student Union mission is to inspire, educate and empower Asian American & Pacific Islander students in higher education." Jaiyah Saelua speaking at the East Coast Asian American Student Union conference.  Photo:  Supplied "In 2009 when Saelua was dismissed from the University of Hawaii Hilo men's soccer team tryouts, she said it felt that she didn't have a voice. But she told the conference that the ti

Ever heard of a fa'afafine?  The word is Samoan and literally translates into way of a woman or womanly, and applies strictly to male-to-female transgender people.  Back in 2011,American Samoa's Jaiyah Saelua became the first transgender person to play in a FIFA World Cup qualifier. Her appearance on the field made history — but so did her play.   Now there is a documentary film about Jaiyah and the team: