RESUMO
ISSUE ADDRESSED: This article explores how belonging can enhance well-being for takatapui (a traditional Maori term that embraces all Maori with diverse genders, sexualities and sex characteristics) who are trans and non-binary across a range of contexts. METHODS: We drew data from the 2018 Counting Ourselves, a nationwide community-based survey of trans and non-binary people in Aotearoa (New Zealand) (N = 1178); of which 161 (13.7%) identified as Maori, the Indigenous people of Aotearoa. RESULTS: Based on generalised regression models, feelings of belonging with friends, takatapui communities, Maori communities, and work communities were correlated to higher feelings of life satisfaction, life worthwhileness, and identity pride for takatapui who are trans and non-binary. In Te Ao Maori (the Maori worldview), such concepts of belonging and relationships are collectively known as whanaungatanga. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings affirm whanaungatanga as foundational to well-being among trans Maori people, enabling them to locate themselves within nurturing and supportive networks. SO WHAT?: Whanaungatanga is a key policy agenda, alongside other system-level change, that is needed to buffer takatapui who are trans and non-binary from poverty, stigma, and racism they face. This will require changes to the current policy and practice context. We argue that whanaungatanga, while an important strategy of well-being for trans and non-binary people, must also occur alongside wider system transformations to address transphobia, racism, and cisheteronormativity.