The Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN) expresses its deepest condolences for the passing of Lealaitagomoa Muliagatele Tuisina Ymania Brown-Gabriel.
We honour Ymania’s remarkable contributions to the MVPFAFF+ LGBTQI+ communities and her tireless advocacy for transgender rights across the Asia and Pacific regions. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends during this time.
Ymania, a prominent figure from Samoa, was the first Pacific region representative elected to hold a Co-Secretary General role for ILGA World. Her activism and leadership extended beyond borders and barriers, from advocating through mechanisms at the United Nations, working alongside world leaders such as the Pope at the Vatican and through philanthropy and rights-based platforms. She was a champion in the fight for MVPFAFF+ LGBTQI+ rights, resourcing and leadership globally. As the Executive Director of TGEU, her dedication and leadership had a profound impact on her team and the communities they serve.
“In her leadership, Tuisina Ymania Brown embodied the spirit of the Pacific, guiding us with cultural concepts, wisdom and compassion. Her legacy as a mother, leader and daughter of the Pacific region will forever inspire us to honour our connections and roots to always uplift our peoples no matter where they exist in this world, her loss is a great loss for us all.”
Phylesha Brown Acton, former APTN co-chair
Ymania was not only a leader on the world stage but also a mother, sister, and cultural bearer whose wisdom was deeply rooted in Pacific traditions of care and kinship. She carried the stories and struggles of her people with pride, and she never lost sight of the humanity behind policy or the love that sustains our movements. Her words often reminded us that our advocacy is strongest when it is grounded in our communities and lived experiences.
“Ymania was a force whose courage and generosity carried our movements across oceans and borders. She carried our communities on her shoulders with courage, and showed us what it meant to fight fiercely while holding community with tenderness, grounding her advocacy in culture, spirit, and love. Her absence leaves a profound void, but her legacy continues to light the path for generations to come.”
Joe Wong, Executive Director, APTN
APTN extends its heartfelt condolences to the Samoa Fa’afafine Association (SFA) and the many MVPFAFF+ SOGIESC brothers and sisters in the Pacific region, who mourn the loss of a great leader who was valued and cherished for her leadership and admired for her fierce advocacy.
Ymania’s advocacy work and commitment to equality and justice will be remembered and cherished by those who knew her and by the broader global community she served. Her legacy will continue to inspire future generations in the ongoing struggle for rights and recognition. In her passing, we lose a visionary, but her light endures in the movements she helped to shape and in the countless lives she touched with courage, love, and unshakable faith in our collective liberation.
‘Your legacy will be with us and your guidance will pave the way for the movement to thrive! Rest in Peace Ymania Brown’
Hua Boonyapisomparn, Vice Chair of the Thai Foundation Board
Share a memorial for Ymania: https://remembr.com/ymania.brown
Further tributes made to Ymania:
International Trans Fund
TGEU
ILGA World
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