HONOLULU – At a special ceremony marking the start of Honolulu Pride Month, Mayor Rick Blangiardi raised the Pride flag above the Frank F. Fasi Civic Center Grounds and proclaimed the Rainbow Shower Tree (Cassia x nealiae ‘Wilhelmina Tenney’) as the “Official Pride Tree of Honolulu.”
“Today is a celebration of everything and everyone that makes our community diverse, beautiful, and strong,” said Mayor Rick Blangiardi. “We are proud to observe Honolulu Pride Month, as the Pride flag flies high overhead, serving as a reminder that our great City is inclusive and welcomes all residents and visitors, regardless of who they love. Meanwhile, the Rainbow Shower Tree (Cassia x nealiae ‘Wilhelmina Tenney’) will now stand as a living legacy to the contributions of the LGBTQ+ Māhū community to Oʻahu throughout the generations.”
The Rainbow Shower Tree (Cassia x nealiae ‘Wilhelmina Tenney’) – which is prominent throughout Oʻahu and was declared the official tree of Honolulu in 1965 – is named for Wilhelmina Tenney, a lifelong Honolulu resident, prominent business woman, and philanthropist who lived in a visible lesbian relationship in the early and middle 20th century, when such relationships were much less common than they are today. Tenney donated a cutting from a Rainbow Shower Tree that was in her yard to the Foster Botanical Garden, where it remains to this day.
The scientific Latin name of the tree – (Cassia x nealiae) – pays tribute to Marie C. Neal, a highly regarded Bishop Museum botanist who also lived in a long-term lesbian relationship, despite pressures from the societal norms of that era.
An informational plaque was unveiled at the base of a Rainbow Shower Tree outside the Frank F. Fasi Municipal Building, thanks to the Lei Pua ʻAla Queer Histories of Hawaiʻi project, an Oʻahu-based group that has also installed informative plaques at the former site of the “Glade Show Club” in Chinatown and at the Healer Stones of Kapaemahu in Waikīkī.
Foster Botanical Garden is offering free admission on Saturday, October 5, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a presentation by Bishop Museum Historian DeSoto Brown at 10 a.m., to share the story of the Rainbow Shower Tree. There will also be a garden tour at 1 p.m.
Pride celebrations continue throughout October. Honolulu Hale is being illuminated in the colors of the rainbow from sunset on October 1 to sunrise on October 5. Mayor Blangiardi will also participate with members of his administration and City employees in the annual Honolulu Pride Parade through Waikīkī on Saturday, October 19.
