In English, a takatāpui person is a Māori individual who is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT).
[2][8] The word takatāpui was found to have existed in pre-colonial New Zealand to describe relationships between people of the same sex.
[2][6] The classic and earliest full account of the origins of gods and the first human beings is contained in a manuscript entitled Nga Tama a Rangi (The Sons of Heaven), written in 1849 by Te Rangikāheke, of the Ngāti Rangiwewehi tribe of Rotorua.
[10] Hinemoa defies her family to claim Tūtānekai, her "heart's desire"—the love-child of a chief's wife who was not her social equal.
[11] While no-one can say Tūtānekai and Tiki were sexually involved, their relationship was accepted to be intimate beyond mere friendship, and the story illustrates the concept that takatāpui in traditional Māori life was not exactly the same as constructions of contemporary homosexuality in Western societies.
[14] Some contemporary Māori LGBT people use the terms gay and lesbian as a convenience, while others self-identify as takatāpui to resist the colonisation of their identities and bodies which would "deny access to important ancestral knowledge".
[4] About one fifth of Māori are young people, but the state education system does not explicitly provide for exploring multiple identities.