BORMANN: Its rehearsal night for the OHutu de Nuit dance group and Tahitis leading choreographer is taking charge. In traditional Polynesian society, Coco Anthony is regarded as neither a man nor a woman but a highly revered member of a third sex. Coco is known as a Mahu, physically a man but someone who acts like a woman.
COCO ANTHONY: In other societies, the Mahu is looked upon as a strange creature like a monster. But I say - lets stop all this, we have our place in society.
BORMANN: This is a conservative place, it has been since the Christian missionaries arrived here in the late 18th Century but the fact is people dont bat an eyelid when they meet someone of ambiguous gender. The Mahu have been part of Polynesia for hundreds, possibly thousands of years.
VOICEOVER [Black and white archive footage] Eastward lies Tahiti, land of colour, laughter, romance Tahiti.
BORMANN: For the French colonials, it was a real eye opener. Men living like women in the most traditional of societies. It was often the case in Polynesian families that the eldest son would be raised as a girl. The belief was that this young Mahu had divine attributes, the best qualities of both genders.
In a thoroughly modern Tahiti, Coco, like many other Mahu, holds a key creative role in the arts scene. He regards himself as an effeminate man, but wants to dress as a man and physically stay as one.
COCO ANTHONY: I am proud of being a Mahu because in Polynesia we belong and we are recognised in this society. We belong in everyday life. Thats it.
MARCO TEVANE: Their role in the communitys life in the village, corresponds to that of women.
BORMANN: To gain an insight into Polynesias third sex, Ive come to meet Marco Tevane, a former culture minister who set up his countrys first indigenous museum.
MARCO TEVANE: From what we know, they lived their lives as women. They had their social function to fulfil, looking after children just as women do, just as mothers do, but with other qualities.
BORMANN: In a place where physical beauty is a nations claim to fame, Miss Tahiti, Raipoe Adams, has the proverbial keys to the island and any dress she wants. She can have the best dressmaker too. Today shes being fitted out in the latest creation by Nelson.
Nelson is not a Mahu, but whats known as a Raerae, a Polynesian man whos crossed the gender divide to not only behave like a woman but become one.
NELSON: From very young, really very young, I understood I was different from the others. Firstly because I was already effeminate. It was obvious, and if it was not obvious, people made me feel it.
BORMANN: While the Mahu of Polynesia are gay men, Raerae, like Nelson, want to be women so they can have a heterosexual relationship with a man.
NELSON: When I was very young, actually when I was 20, I met a man and lived with him for 20 years. We lived as a couple.
BORMANN: In the island of love, sexual identity can be a wondrous, if complex matter. To make it more difficult, the Mahu and the Raerae dont always see eye to eye.
MARCO TEVANE: Generally the Mahu is much cleaner than the Raerae. Today when you speak of the Raerae, it is in a degrading context. It is sex. It is prostitution.
BORMANN: It all turned sour from the 1960s when thousands of French troops poured into Tahiti for the nuclear testing program. There werent enough females to entertain them, so some of the local men became women. François Bauer documented their exploits. Hes now the acknowledged expert on the Mahu and Raerae.
FRANCOIS BAUER: The most effeminate Mahus, who understood the benefit to be gained from cross-dressing, by keeping company with the servicemen, started to cross-dress and prostitute themselves to earn money.
ANGELE: Hello my name is Angele. I was elected Miss Transsexual 2000 in Paris. I am 21 years old and I live in Papeete in Tahiti.
BORMANN: Angele is sensitive about being called a Raerae because shes not a prostitute, neither are many others of her kind. She was a man who became a woman, with the benefit of modern surgery.
ANGELE: Its true that there are some people who insult us, who dont like us, who sometimes tend to react physically towards us, but we just live for ourselves.
FRANCOIS BAUER: Of course there is some rivalry. We are dealing with two different types of individuals. Firstly there is the Mahu who has ancestral customs, is socially accepted by the Polynesian families and there is the other type, the Raerae who is not accepted by society because he prostitutes himself.
BORMANN: In a multicultural, multilingual society, the Mahu and the Raerae are part of the tapestry of a multisexual society. Dance leader, Coco, sees himself as upholding tradition as well.
COCO ANTHONY: I am very proud to be Mahu because we maintain the Polynesian culture within us. We can say that we have saved our cultural heritage, all the while respecting it.
BORMANN: Mahu and Raerae are the embodiment of a mainly tolerant society. In a land with men, women and a third sex, there are no hidden genders.
COCO ANTHONY: In other societies, the Mahu is looked upon as a strange creature like a monster. But I say - lets stop all this, we have our place in society.
BORMANN: This is a conservative place, it has been since the Christian missionaries arrived here in the late 18th Century but the fact is people dont bat an eyelid when they meet someone of ambiguous gender. The Mahu have been part of Polynesia for hundreds, possibly thousands of years.
VOICEOVER [Black and white archive footage] Eastward lies Tahiti, land of colour, laughter, romance Tahiti.
BORMANN: For the French colonials, it was a real eye opener. Men living like women in the most traditional of societies. It was often the case in Polynesian families that the eldest son would be raised as a girl. The belief was that this young Mahu had divine attributes, the best qualities of both genders.
In a thoroughly modern Tahiti, Coco, like many other Mahu, holds a key creative role in the arts scene. He regards himself as an effeminate man, but wants to dress as a man and physically stay as one.
COCO ANTHONY: I am proud of being a Mahu because in Polynesia we belong and we are recognised in this society. We belong in everyday life. Thats it.
MARCO TEVANE: Their role in the communitys life in the village, corresponds to that of women.
BORMANN: To gain an insight into Polynesias third sex, Ive come to meet Marco Tevane, a former culture minister who set up his countrys first indigenous museum.
MARCO TEVANE: From what we know, they lived their lives as women. They had their social function to fulfil, looking after children just as women do, just as mothers do, but with other qualities.
BORMANN: In a place where physical beauty is a nations claim to fame, Miss Tahiti, Raipoe Adams, has the proverbial keys to the island and any dress she wants. She can have the best dressmaker too. Today shes being fitted out in the latest creation by Nelson.
Nelson is not a Mahu, but whats known as a Raerae, a Polynesian man whos crossed the gender divide to not only behave like a woman but become one.
NELSON: From very young, really very young, I understood I was different from the others. Firstly because I was already effeminate. It was obvious, and if it was not obvious, people made me feel it.
BORMANN: While the Mahu of Polynesia are gay men, Raerae, like Nelson, want to be women so they can have a heterosexual relationship with a man.
NELSON: When I was very young, actually when I was 20, I met a man and lived with him for 20 years. We lived as a couple.
BORMANN: In the island of love, sexual identity can be a wondrous, if complex matter. To make it more difficult, the Mahu and the Raerae dont always see eye to eye.
MARCO TEVANE: Generally the Mahu is much cleaner than the Raerae. Today when you speak of the Raerae, it is in a degrading context. It is sex. It is prostitution.
BORMANN: It all turned sour from the 1960s when thousands of French troops poured into Tahiti for the nuclear testing program. There werent enough females to entertain them, so some of the local men became women. François Bauer documented their exploits. Hes now the acknowledged expert on the Mahu and Raerae.
FRANCOIS BAUER: The most effeminate Mahus, who understood the benefit to be gained from cross-dressing, by keeping company with the servicemen, started to cross-dress and prostitute themselves to earn money.
ANGELE: Hello my name is Angele. I was elected Miss Transsexual 2000 in Paris. I am 21 years old and I live in Papeete in Tahiti.
BORMANN: Angele is sensitive about being called a Raerae because shes not a prostitute, neither are many others of her kind. She was a man who became a woman, with the benefit of modern surgery.
ANGELE: Its true that there are some people who insult us, who dont like us, who sometimes tend to react physically towards us, but we just live for ourselves.
FRANCOIS BAUER: Of course there is some rivalry. We are dealing with two different types of individuals. Firstly there is the Mahu who has ancestral customs, is socially accepted by the Polynesian families and there is the other type, the Raerae who is not accepted by society because he prostitutes himself.
BORMANN: In a multicultural, multilingual society, the Mahu and the Raerae are part of the tapestry of a multisexual society. Dance leader, Coco, sees himself as upholding tradition as well.
COCO ANTHONY: I am very proud to be Mahu because we maintain the Polynesian culture within us. We can say that we have saved our cultural heritage, all the while respecting it.
BORMANN: Mahu and Raerae are the embodiment of a mainly tolerant society. In a land with men, women and a third sex, there are no hidden genders.