Similarly to the
Cook Islands,
Samoa and
New Zealand, Niue possesses a traditional
third gender population: the
fiafifine (also known as the ). They have traditionally been accepted by Niuean society, and would play an important domestic role in communal life. In 2007, during a gathering of delegates from around the Pacific in
Māngere, New Zealand, a local called out the discrimination and stigma faced by the community: "Our communities were an accepted part of Pacific life and culture prior to Western colonisation, but have been subject to much stigma and discrimination in more recent times." ==Laws regarding same-sex sexual activity==