Melenie Mahinamalamalama Eleneke

Melenie Mahinamalamalama Eleneke (December 25, 1959 – September 9, 2013) was an American transgender rights activist of the Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP) in San Francisco, hula dancer and spiritual healer.

Early life and education Eleneke was born December 25, 1959, in Honolulu, Hawai’i. She was the youngest child of Jerett Kalani Eleneke and Alene Ku’ukama’aloha Parker Eleneke-Pa’s five children. Her siblings are Shalei, Wayne, Paul, and Charles Eleneke and Char Thompson.

She attended Kailua High School in Honolulu and graduated in 1977. She transitioned while in high school.

She studied Social Justice at San Francisco State University. As part of her work, she visited trans people at California Medical Facility (CMF) in Vacaville and other prisons. She organized letter-writing events for prisoners in California and throughout the country. She offered workshops on spiritual healing to trans people coming out of prison and jail.

Eleneke was an active member of The Ladies of Keolalaulani Halau and the House of Valenciaga . She was a founder of a transgender women of color hula group and a long-time leader in the Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center.