Alofa project

The ALOFA PROJECT envisions a world where Pacific LGBTIQ+ people are accepted, affirmed and loved as they are — within their religious, cultural, and family environments.

Alofa, the Samoan word for love is the clarion call (or foafoa, the Samoan conch call) from the ALOFA PROJECT, to Pacific community leaders, for LGBTIQ+ inclusion.

Alofa Project is inspired by the ABC documentary Alofa. It follows human rights advocate and ex-pastor Andre Afamasaga’s journey of self-acceptance amid the explicit and implicit pressures of faith, religion, and culture.

Terminology note: Pacific LGBTIQ+ is inclusive of Rainbow+, MVPFAFF+, and PIDSOGIESC communities.

alofa

vision

Alofa’s vision is clear: to encourage positive human rights progress across Pacific communities by engaging the core pillars of Faith, Culture, and Family.

The Alofa Project is built on the premise that in our communal and hierarchical cultures, it cannot be the responsibility of LGBTIQ+ individuals alone, to convince their kin to accept and love them —Rather, it is the sacred duty of leaders to ensure protection for all. We aim to influence positive attitude and behaviour changes via interdisciplinary methods:

  • Providing human rights and legal information that are nuanced, accessible and actionable

  • Upholding cultural values that are respectful and safe for all

  • Fostering inclusive religious and theological inquiry and dialogue

  • Embedding person-centred, trauma-sensitive, and relational (Va) approaches cognisant of Pacific family (aiga)

The ALOFA PROJECT will work respectfully with community and cultural leaders and allies, to help identify dismountable practices and systems that exclude and discriminate against Pacific LGBTIQ+ kin.

Guided by Alofa (love), our mission is to bridge divides and create inclusive spaces and practices, that will enhance Pacific Rainbow peoples being affirmed and loved as they are, within their religious, cultural, and family contexts.

ALOFA IN THE MEDIA

Human rights advocacy in the media can help shift the needle towards progress, by educating and influencing people to proactively and positively act (being a upstander).

Media stories about the Alofa documentary, and follow-up interviews help to provide more context and discussion beyond the surface.

Thank you to the journalists, editors and producers who helped promote Alofa. Get in touch if you have a media enquiry.

Some highlights:

Living without judgement:

Linked here is an ABC Australia Religion & Ethics Opinion piece Andre wrote, in response to mostly non-Pacific people suggesting that LGBTIQ+ should not be ‘theists’ or attend church, due to the harm caused to Rainbow communities by the church.

‘Alofa’ documentary follows struggles of Gay ex-Pastor

Andre also did a radio interview with Aggie Tupou of ABC Pacific Beats, where he talks about religion, culture, and family being ‘systems’ that can work against LGBTIQ Pacific peoples accepting their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.

Andre is undertaking other interviews in the coming weeks and will upload these as they become available. Please reshare our content.

Check out Andre’s linktree for his other human rights media advcoacy, including a 2022 Stuff National Portrait on him, and his ‘coming out’ essay in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“ With its poignant storytelling and insightful interviews, Alofa is a compelling exploration of love, faith, and the enduring struggle for equality.”
— Australian Women's Weekly

get involved

increase our impact

5 ways you can help

Collective and strategic actions can help curb existing harm, and prevent future discrimination against LGBTIQ+ who are adversely affected by (the normally positive) Pacific context / trifecta of Faith, Culture, & Family.

For ALOFA PROJECT to drive sustainable change, we need pro bono and volunteer support. Building the infrastructure needed for an effective charitable initiative takes energy and time.

Your help is needed. Together, we can encourage the dismantling of manmade barriers that prevent many of our communities from extending demonstrating love & acceptance of Pacific LGBTIQ+.

Below are the 5 key areas we need during our establishment and implementation stages, and beyond. If you can help us out, please connect.

  • LEGAL SUPPORT to establish a charitable organisation in Australia & New Zealand

    GOVERNANCE CAPABILITY to build an effective Board

  • FUNDING & RESOURCING from government, philanthropy, and private sources to operate in Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific & globally

  • Good communications strategy & products to help get our message into the rights hands, and inspire to take the right actions.

  • ALIGNING ADVOCATES

    • Relationship alignment with existing Rainbow community organisations, including lived experience advocates

    ALIGNING ALLIES

    • Working with allies in human rights, government, theological, media, & community spaces to help achieve our goals

    EQUIPPING COMMUNITY CHAMPIONS

    • to help advocate for change in family, faith & cultural settings, & in community & online spaces

  • I welcome opportunities to consult, speak and provide education, or co-produce any practical community solutions. Get in touch! I am comfortable in religious spaces and I can meet with Boards and leaders for sensitive and confidential discussions.

This Alofa promo video above features Pastor Kirsten Øster-Lundqvist of Capital Church in Wellington, where Andre was previously the Pastor. In this video, Kirsten discusses the importance of having a church that is welcoming and accepting of all peoples. And, both Andre and Kirsten caution against biblical literalism in interpretation of scripture, and how this can be used as a weapon against LGBTIQ+ and other groups.

about

andre

Andre is Samoan (villages: Afega, Fasito‘otai) and was born in Lower Hutt , Aotearoa New Zealand. For over two decades, he has worked across government, community, youth, public health, education sectors in Australia and New Zealand. This includes 11 years as a Pastor in both Macquarie Fields, NSW, and Wellington, NZ. He has been nominated for awards such as Australia Day Citizen of the Year, for his local council awards, and NSW Pacific Community Worker of the Year.

His professional experience notably includes working at Te Kahui Tika Tangata | NZ Human Rights Commission, in various roles such as an advisor to the previous Chief Human Rights Commissioner Race Relations Commissioners. He oversaw several award-winning antiracism and social cohesion public awareness campaigns. His last role was GM of the Advice, Research, and Engagement teams. His team looked after human rights for SOGIESC, and Pacific peoples, as well as projects like the Pacific Pay Gap Inquiry, the Housing Inquiry, and many more.

At the end of 2019, at a time of intense homophobic debate, he came out publicly as gay, in a viral opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald that was also published in The Age (Melbourne), Stuff (NZ), and the Samoa Observer.

His lived experience of being a church Pastor, and a survivor of conversion practices was formative in his human rights work. He worked on the Ministry of Justice team that developed the policy for the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Act. And, after the law passed, he was subsequently appointed the senior manager to oversee the establishment of the Human Rights Commission’s civil redress scheme. This has been one of many full circle moments for Andre, from survivor to human rights champion

He also had secondments at the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet, and worked at Te Hiringa Hauora | Health Promotion Agency on several award winning public health campaigns for Maori & Pacific communities.

In 2022, Stuff did a National Portrait Piece (feature story) about him that appeared in appears in their nine daily newspapers across Aotearoa.

Now that he is no longer a public servant, he has set up a consulting practice called Lived Experience Leadership. He is also honing his Board governance skills. He serves as a Board member/Trustee for two national youth development and community organisations - Zeal, and Praxis.

Since 2021, he has been a Judge for the prestigious BEST Design Awards Social Good Category, and in 2024, he joined the Diversity Awards as a judge in the Respectful Culture category.