When Lauren Toomalatai co-founded the Nuanua Collective in 2019, it was with a vision both urgent and timeless: to create a safe space for LGBTQ+ Pacific Islanders to reconnect with their cultural roots and reclaim ancestral understandings of gender and identity. For Toomalatai, this work is about more than advocacy—it is about restoring what was lost through colonization and Christian missionary influence, and reminding her community of the power and beauty that has always existed within it.

Raised within Utah’s vibrant Pacific Islander diaspora, Toomalatai saw firsthand how queer Pasifika often struggled to find belonging. Though Pacific cultures have long recognized gender diversity—such as Samoa’s fa’afafine and fa’afatama—Western binaries and rigid religious teachings often erased or stigmatized these identities. Through Nuanua, Toomalatai has worked to change that narrative, offering education, cultural programming, and spaces where queer Pasifika can celebrate themselves without apology.

Under her leadership, Nuanua has grown into a beacon for the community, hosting art and music events, health and wellness programs, drag performances, and peer support groups that draw hundreds. The organization’s initiatives, like the Oceania Outlawed drag series, not only entertain but also reclaim performance as an expression of culture and resistance. Toomalatai and her team continue to expand the collective’s reach, supported by grants and partnerships with LGBTQ+ and QTBIPOC organizations across Utah.

At its heart, Toomalatai’s work is about weaving together past and future. By centering traditional Pacific perspectives on gender and sexuality, she helps her community remember that queerness is not an import but a legacy. And by creating opportunities for younger generations to learn, perform, and lead, she ensures that this legacy will continue to thrive.

With vision, determination, and deep cultural grounding, Lauren Toomalatai has helped shape Nuanua into more than just an organization—it is a movement, an affirmation, and a home for queer Pacific Islanders to stand in their truth and carry their heritage forward.