kū.ʻē
One of the reasons I embrace my Hawaiianess (for lack of a better word), the part of me that is `Oiwi is because the culture was/is rooted in acceptance. In the old days, and as late as the mid 1800's, my loving men would not have been a huge deal. Some of you have heard a poem I used to do about that very issue. It is telling that there is not equivalent of the word "faggot" in the Hawaiian language.
Part of why I identify so strongly as Hawaiian-Kanka-`oiwi is because as a Hawaiian I can be a whole person. This issue of sexuality has not always been an issue.
That's changed over the course of 200+ years of Western contact and Christianization. This is evident via the photos of the protests against civil-unions in the sate of Hawaii. So many showed up. So many of the people listed as speaking or in photographs were listed as having Hawaiian names. The color of the shirts worn by those opposed to civil-unions was red. The same color of the shirts worn FOR Hawaiian rights and sovereignty.
James Baldwin mentioned that he could handle attacks and criticism from white Americans, but to experience the same from Blacks was more than he could bear.
For me gay-rights and Hawaiian sovereignty are entwined. It wasn't just our land, government and culture that was colonized; our bodies and self-image were colonized also.
As a side note: for me identity is not a static thing, but something always changing and growing. The way I see my self as a gay, Hawaiian, as American is always evolving. How couldn't it?