North Shore Koʻolau Diversity Collective

08/04/2026

Come learn beginner line dances at Kahuku Library! Our seasoned instructor will walk through the dances slowly and give careful instruction. Pop in for a fun night of books, boots, and laughter.

Robbie (they/them) works on eradicating little fire ants and coqui frogs by day. By night, they love line dancing with the LGBTQ+ friendly group Blazing Saddles. Robbie has boot scooted and boogied from Maine to Iowa and from Colorado to California. They can’t wait to share some of their favorite beginner line dances with you!

No experience necessary, all levels welcome.

Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a program, service, or activity should contact library staff as soon as possible. Advance requests 48 hours or more before the event are encouraged, but not required. All programs are subject to change.

06/23/2026

06/01/2026

Lei Pua ʻAla Foundation, in partnership with Hawai'i Health & Harm Reduction Center,invites artists to submit proposals for a permanent historical mural to be installed in a new AIDS Memorial & Community Memory Site at Honolulu’s Kakaʻako Waterfront Park Overlook, a hilltop site with all-encompassing views of city, mountain, and sea.

The memorial will be an enduring place where people can gather to reflect, mourn, and honor those who have been lost or suffered from HIV/AIDS, other epidemics, and related forms of prejudice, oppression and erasure; uplift Hawaiian and other cultural traditions of diversity, inclusion and well-being; and celebrate those working toward a more just and pono (equitable) future for all.

Grounded in Hawaiʻi’s uniquely multicultural landscape, the selected mural design will be a visually inspiring depiction of the long arc of community history honored by the memorial.

Entry Deadline: July 31, 2026, 5:00 p.m. HST

Budget: Up to 4 semi-finalists will receive $500; artist of a selected design will receive $3,000 to finalize and prepare mural design concept for fabrication and installation (costs covered by Lei Pua ʻAla Foundation).

Size and Scale: The installation surface is a 15.5 feet long, 40-inches high, semi-circular stone wall at the mauka (mountain) side of the overlook facing the ocean.

Materials and Finishes: Preference will be given to artwork that can be delivered as a digital image to be printed on High Pressure Laminate panels, the same material for the site’s informational and interpretive plaques due to its proven durability and resistance to harsh environmental conditions, graffiti, and physical damage. Other similarly durable materials may also be considered.

Learn More & Apply at: queerhistoriesofhawaii.org/artistcall

05/25/2026

Mahalo Councilmember Tyler Dos Santos-Tam ...

05/04/2026

Lock this Māhū Extravaganza on your summer calendar!

On Saturday, July 11, at Hawaiʻi Theatre, there will be one more chance to see the incredible live performance of “The Return of Kapaemahu” hula show.

And thanks to the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival, it will be paired with a screening of “MĀHŪ: A Trans-Pacific Lover Letter,” a powerful short film about an innovative theater production that aims to reclaim and celebrate the traditional place of honor and respect given to māhū in Hawaiʻi.

At just $10, tickets are gonna sell out fast, so stay tuned to HRFF.org for details on when they’ll be released.

Hope to see you at the most spectacular event of the summer!

More about the film at lehuafilms.com/mahu

04/29/2026

Our colleague in exploring hidden histories, DeSoto Brown, has another fascinating story up on our website, which you can check out here: https://www.queerhistoriesofhawaii.org/helenandalice

In it he writes: “Same-sex relationships, sometimes lasting lifetimes, have always existed – but our knowledge of them in the past is sketchy. Only rarely do descriptions and pictures of such connections survive to give us insight into these human interactions.”

In the case of Helen Richardson and Alice Perry, we’re fortunate that famed photographer and amateur historian Ray Jerome Baker happened to become their neighbor in 1910 and, in his passing, donated his trove of pictures and diaries to the Bishop Museum where DeSoto, as manager of the museum’s archives, found this incredible story.

Here’s as excerpt:

“The personalities of the two women were reflected in their relationship. In 1944, Baker described Helen (who appears to have been a member of the long-established Hawaiian-haole Dudoit family) as ‘deaf, good-natured, yet bombastic, autocratic, decisive and vigorous.’ Of the two, she was what today would be called ‘butch’ while Alice was certainly more of a homemaker, and definitely not as assertive. At a dinner one night in 1944, Baker described Alice’s role: ‘Alice did the preparing of the meal and the listening[;] also Alice did the explaining and the conveying of questions when Helen failed to hear. At times Miss Richardson put on men’s clothes, and acted like a plantation luna [boss]. When she became liquored up she acted silly and made drunken love to men, though ordinarily when sober she had nothing to do with men.’”