Meet Our Families...

We invite you to take a journey with some of Hawaii’s families ... sharing their joys, tears, tragedies and triumphs as they negotiate life in The Aloha State.

They are your relatives, friends, neighbors and co-workers. They live in every community in our state.

But these families are unique. Daily, they face discrimination, denial of rights, rejection and persecution because of who they are or who they love.

They are parents of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (GLBT) children. They are GLBT parents themselves, raising beautiful, vibrant children. They are GLBT couples, simply trying to build lives together. They are individuals, some abandoned or misunderstood by their biological families, finding safety and love with a chosen, extended ’ohana.

Although very different in their composition and experiences, these families are bound by a common thread ... a unifying sense of love, devotion and commitment that conquers all challenges.

Captured through the lens of photographer Mike Ang, we hope these family portraits expand community’s definition of family ... an expansion that embraces, nurtures and celebrates all families in our state of Aloha.

Equality Hawaii Foundation would like to thank all the individuals and families who participated in Hawaii Family Portraits for sharing their lives with us. We’d also like to thank Mike Ang for creating these beautiful images and The Gill Foundation and Hawaii People's Fund for their support in bringing these stories to a wider community.

Mahalo.


 

 Sidney Stern Memorial Trust • State Equality Fund
 A special thanks: The Pineapple Inn, Maui Sunseeker Resort, Otto Cake and Sure Shot Cafe.