Palopa

{{Short description|Third gender in Papua New Guinea}}

{{Infobox gender and sexual identity|name=Palopa|image=|alt=|caption=|etymology=|classification=Gender identity|synonyms=|associated_terms=Fakaleiti, Two-spirit, Trans woman, Akava'ine, Māhū|culture=|regions=Papua New Guinea|region1={{flagicon|PNG}}|pop1=}}{{Transgender sidebar}}Palopa is a term used in Papua New Guinea and the diaspora as a non-heteronormative term for people who may identify in Western nomenclature as either gay, transsexual, or having a third gender role.{{Cite book |last=Stewart |first=Christine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LsbjBgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Palopa%22&pg=PA33 |title=Name, Shame and Blame: Criminalising Consensual Sex in Papua New Guinea |date=2014-12-02 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=978-1-925021-22-6 |pages=xxi |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Glossary of LGBTIQ+ Language |url=https://outline.org.nz/glossary/ |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=OutLine Aotearoa |language=en-US}}{{Cite journal |last=Worth |first=Heather |date=2011-10-01 |title=Is the Myth of the Bisexual Infector Still a Myth? Reflections on HIV Risk and Men Who Have Sex with Men and Women |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2011.620824 |journal=Journal of Bisexuality |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=488–492 |doi=10.1080/15299716.2011.620824 |s2cid=143515533 |issn=1529-9716|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite web |last=Mayron |first=Sapeer |date=2022-02-14 |title=Landmark health survey of rainbow Pasifika launches |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/127744913/landmark-health-survey-of-rainbow-pasifika-launches |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=Stuff |language=en}} LGBTQ+ activist Clint Woolly has described how Western terminology is stigmatised by many in Papua New Guinea and argued that indigenous descriptors, such as palopa, should be adopted and adapted. For the Sambian people, the phrase kwolu-aatmwol describes a third gender identity.{{Cite web |last=Woolly |first=Clint |date=2016-10-28 |title=Reclaiming our rainbow cultural identities |url=https://rainbowpng.wordpress.com/2016/10/28/reclaiming-our-rainbow-cultural-identities/ |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=Rainbow Papua New Guinea |language=en}} Terminology is also borrowed from other Pacific communities, for example the term 'sister-girl' from Torres Strait Islanders.{{Cite book |last1=Besnier |first1=Niko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TTAEEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Palopa%22&pg=PA327 |title=Gender on the Edge: Transgender, Gay, and Other Pacific Islanders |last2=Alexeyeff |first2=Kalissa |date=2014-12-31 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-4019-8 |pages=327 |language=en}}