Hawaiian Drag Show spotlights Islands' Long History of Fluid Gender and Cultural Pride

The "Mahu Magic" drag show in Las Vegas featured performers who identify as mahu, a Hawaiian term for people with dual male and female spirit and a mixture of gender traits.
The show aimed to remind the world of the respected place gender-fluidity has held in Hawaiian culture for hundreds of years and make a foray into the national conversation about transgender rights.
The Hawaiian language makes it easier to inhabit the gender-fluid spot because it doesn’t have gendered pronouns.
The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement sponsored the show to shine a spotlight on gender-fluidity for those who have lost touch with Hawaiian culture.
Mahu often have had important roles in Native Hawaiian culture as teachers, healers and keepers of knowledge and traditions.