The Australian Volunteers Program strives to provide a safe, supportive and equitable environment for LGBTQIA+ volunteers, approved accompanying dependents, partner organisations and all program staff. The Australian Volunteers Program has supported queer volunteers in all program countries and has ongoing connections with community organisations in many countries and regions in which the program operates.
This guide introduces a snapshot of the local context for queer and gender diverse people. LGBTQIA+ program participants must be aware of the country context before undertaking an assignment. If you are an LGBTQIA+ volunteer, you will need to:
- do your own research and understand what the local law says you can and can't do when in-country
- follow the local laws, even if you disagree with them
- be aware of the legal protections for LGBTQIA+ people in your destinations
- consider if you’re comfortable living and working in a place where you may not be able to live as openly as you can in some parts of Australia.
Language
Terminology may differ across urban and rural contexts, provinces or ethnic and cultural groups. Information sourced online can be outdated or inaccurate. For current and accurate information, please confirm with an appropriate civil society organisation (CSO) or ask your in-country team.
Legal and policy context
Consensual sex between men is illegal in Tonga. However, there is no evidence of the law being enforced, and it appears to be largely obsolete in practice. Nevertheless, the existence of this provision is a violation of human rights and underpins further acts of discrimination. Male rape is illegal for both perpetrator and victim in Tonga.
The law is silent on the status of same sex relationships between women, or on the rights and protections owed to Tongan people who may identify as LGBTIQIA+. It is illegal for men to wear women’s clothing or in any other way impersonate or represent himself to be female. There is no law permitting name or gender marker changes on identification documents.
Tonga is not a party to the Convention on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, or the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. In 2011, Tonga became the only country in the Pacific to not sign or express support for the 2011 Joint Statement on Ending Acts of Violence and Related Human Rights Violations Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Discrimination
LGBTQIA+ people experience prejudice, discrimination, and violence within Tongan society. The indigenous leiti population, a traditional Tongan transgender community, is said to be accepted by society, although the President of the Tonga Leitis Association was murdered in a high-profile incident in 2021.
One legal protection has been identified for LGBTQIA+ people in common law: Judges in a court of law must not discriminate against any person on irrelevant grounds, including sexual orientation. Despite this, in 2013, the Supreme Court denied custody of a child to a gay man, on the basis that '[no] court would entrust a very young child into the care of person whose lifestyle carries with it a very real risk of prosecution'.
No other legal protections exist for LGBTQIA+ people in Tonga. This includes a lack of constitutional protection and national laws that protect against discrimination, laws that protect against discrimination in employment, and laws that protect against hate crimes, incitement to hatred, violence or discrimination based on gender and/or sexual identities.
The extent of discriminatory comments received within the LGBTQIA+ community cause members to hide their identities, drop out of jobs and education, experience low self-esteem, avoid vital services (such as health and police), and emigrate to safer countries.
There is a deep mistrust of police, with reports of police dismissing violent crimes against LGBTQIA+ people, victim blaming, and raping LGBTQIA+ people in custody. As a result, there is hesitation to report crimes perpetrated against the LGBTQIA+ community.
Cultural and societal attitudes
Before missionaries arrived, Pacific cultures were known to have wide acceptance of many sexual identities, including leitīs and fa’afafine. For religious institutions, which are a fundamental cornerstone of life in the Pacific Islands, the road to accepting these cultural practices has been complicated. There is currently a heightened religious tension in Tonga, with American-funded evangelists fuelling a new campaign against the LGBTQIA+ community.
In general, diverse gender identities are much more widely accepted in Tonga than diverse sexual orientations. There is broad cultural acceptance of the leiti community on the main island of Tonga. Although some evangelist churches still discriminate against leitis, the community is mostly welcomed in religious spaces. There is an expectation that leitis will complete unpaid labour as a means of gaining and sustaining social acceptance, such as cooking and bringing food to the poor in their local communities. The Miss Galaxy Pageant, which began in 1993, celebrates leitis in broader society.
In one study, leitis identified family members as the group who demonstrated most stigma around their sexual identities. One-third of participants concealed their sexual identities. Some adolescent leitis are forced to leave their homes, and the Tonga Leitis Association runs a safehouse where they can stay.
Joint adoption and second parent adoption are not legally available for same-sex couples in Tonga. In line with local customs, LGBTQIA+ people may informally adopt young people from their extended families or communities and raise them, taking on a parental role. Others may form ‘chosen family’ units that are made up of community members, living together and sharing their resources.
Health and wellbeing
The Tongan Government delivers free basic health care, but Tongans on the outer islands face barriers to accessing quality health services. In one study, leiti adolescents described not knowing how to access health-related information or support. Leitis can receive community-led mental health and wellbeing services at the drop-in centre Ofa he Paea. The Tonga Leitis Association facilitates peer support meetings to encourage safe sexual practices including HIV and STI testing.
There is no sexuality education in the school curriculum that incorporates LGBTQIA+ themes. Research has found that young people in Tonga have very limited awareness about sexual and reproductive health rights, with participants stating that their main source of information was Facebook and YouTube.
Tonga has a low prevalence of HIV, but there is an increase in HIV/AIDS cases in the Pacific with Fiji experiencing an outbreak in 2025.
'Let them see we are helping, but they learn from us, we are helping each other, all work together. We work together to stop HIV. They see the good work when people work together, and they respect us and we can respect them.' - Anonymous Tongan lesbian
Men who have sex with men and leitis are identified as key populations at risk of poor sexual and reproductive health in the Tonga National Integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategic Plan (2014-2018). The health needs and experiences of other LGBTQIA+ communities are not addressed in the plan. There are no laws restricting interventions aimed to modify the sex characteristics of intersex minors without their free, prior and full informed consent.
Media
Local news outlets report on matters relating to leitis in Tonga. The media can also be used as a way for activists and community members to raise awareness.
Social media can help the LGBTQIA+ community to connect and share resources but can also fuel discrimination by religious groups to perpetuate negative attitudes and incite violence towards them, often spiking at times of public displays of queer identities such Pride Month.
The Pride Guides were developed in 2022 and updated in 2025 by consultants and experts based in countries in which the program operates.
