[1] Although acceptance is growing across the Pacific, violence and social stigma remain issues for LGBTQ communities.

[2] This also leads to problems with healthcare, including access to HIV treatment in countries such as Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands where homosexuality is criminalised.

[3] The United Kingdom introduced conservative social attitudes and anti-LGBTQ laws throughout the British Empire, including its colonies throughout the Pacific Ocean.

Opponents of LGBTQ rights in Oceania have justified their stance by arguing it is supported by tradition and that homosexuality is a "Western vice", although anti-LGBTQ laws themselves are a colonial British legacy.

[4] Several Pacific countries have ancient traditions predating colonization that reflect a unique local perspective of sexuality and gender, such as the faʻafafine in Samoa, fakaleitī in Tonga, or māhū in Hawaiʻi.