Column 11 -- Levuka Drag and Other Delights

This is the eleventh column in a serialization of PACIFIC FLASH: A Year in FIJI by Gerry Takano. Copies will be available April 1, 2010. Stay tuned for more information.

A new and fun community party, the Back to Levuka celebration, commemorating the cessation of Fiji to Britain in 1874, was in full swing. There were mekes (Fijian singing), choirs, and international entertainment from other Pacific locations. What better time to feature the Miss Universe contest (Levuka’s version of a drag queen ball) in ultra conservative Fiji.

Spartan and minimally ornate, Queen Victoria Memorial Hall was transformed into a high camp and drag queen fantasy setting with spot colored lights, a lit-up ramp, decorations and cabaret tables -- the Levuka transgender community, hidden during the rest of the year, was out in full force to make this event the highlight of the celebration. That is, if you were lucky enough to be invited.

Look for the pink pinkie, said a tolerant and supportive Levukan. That’s a sign of you know what. Surely there may have been other ways of identity that excluded expatriates. But that night, with the make-shift glamour and stylized American techno music in the background, the ball conjured up the bold Paris is Burning streetwise New York City impersonator houses starring in catwalk dazzle.

Cafe Levuka Kathy, so elegant in a smart black, Chinoise silk dress, hosted the evening with over 100 guests and curious natives. Six local contests represented various countries--Misses Jamaica, Taiwan, Fiji, India, Solomon Islands, and the Philippines. Each local contestant competed in the evening dress stroll, questions
and answers, and, of course, talent. Only occasionally did the sound system hum out. Louie, a tall Fijian waiter at Kathy’s Café Levuka, was especially stunning and impressive as Miss Solomon Islands. He charmed the audience with a Solomon mating dance, a very serious essay on meeting his long-gone grandfather and the final ramp walk dressed as a young and perky Diana Ross. These male girls were ready to compete with America's best. When asked to name a woman most admired Miss Jamaica, that sassy gal answered, why Michael Jackson of course.

Such a celebration, commemorating the cession of an island to an imperial power, may be odd to ethnic separatists elsewhere bent on ignoring or revising history and its contradictions. But it appeared that Fiji loved Britain. According to many Fijians, Britain lifted Fiji out of the dark presence and savage cannibalism into Christian light. No wonder that in Levuka, the former British capital, the first week of October is a royal, gala time. And why embrace Britain and not the mighty USA back in those days? Although Mr. Whippy and other American expatriates were warmly welcomed in Levuka, the reason was because America demanded Fiji repay its debt, or else face serious bashing. Britain defended Fiji and paid off Americans.

Gerry Takano was reared in Honolulu, Hawaii and received his architectural education and early training in upstate New York and Boston. Gerry served as Hawaii’s National Trust Advisor and State of Hawaii Commissioner of the Historic Sites Review Board.

He currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and can be reached at gertkno@aol.com