Takatāpui

Takatāpui (also spelt takataapui) is the Māori word meaning a devoted partner of the same sex. In modern terminology, a person that identifies as takatāpui is a Māori individual that is queer, in other words gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender or transsexual.

The term is not new, but the application of it is very recent. In the 1980s, there was a desire for a label to describe an individual that is both Māori and non-heterosexual. The word takatāpui was found to have existed in pre-colonial New Zealand to describe relationships between people of the same sex. The existence of this word kills the conservative Māori argument that homosexuality did not exist in Māori society prior to the arrival of Europeans. Derivatives of takatāpui include takatāpui kaharua for bisexual, takatāpui wahine for lesbian and takatāpui wahine ki tāne or takatāpui tāne ki wahine for transmen or transwomen.