CHamoru culture & local terms
Use CHamoru spelling and contextualize local queer terms; do not force one-to-one Western identity labels.
- Use CHamoru as the preferred official orthographic spelling. Guåhan is a CHamoru name for Guam and appears in current community language.
- Inafa’maolek and inágofli’e’ describe relational values such as mutual responsibility, harmony, care and seeing the good in others; they are cultural concepts, not LGBTQ identity labels.
- Gela’ was historically derogatory for feminine/gay CHamoru men and has been reclaimed by some queer and trans CHamorus. Use it as a discovery term only with context.Caution
More local expressions 2
- Mamflorita, Manmalalahi, Tinalao’an and Machom appear in historical/academic discussion of gender and sexuality. Meanings vary and do not map neatly onto modern binary categories.Needs checking
- Do not import CNMI evidence into Guam. Manmalao’an is specifically noted in the source as associated by some with Sa’ipan, so it is excluded from Guam discovery keywords unless Guam-specific evidence emerges.Caution