Queer, Asian/Pacific Islander & Proud

Queer Asian and Pacific Islander Pride is breaking out in San Francisco, across the United States and around the world. Courageous individuals and groundbreaking organizations are helping make LGBT people visible within Asian and Pacific Islander communities and challenging traditional stereotypes of Asians and Pacific Islanders (A&PIs) within the gay community.

Last September, Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, held its first Gay/Lesbian Pride Festival with the support of both the city’s mayor and the country’s president. The festival included a book fair, transgender dance, art show, displays on gay history and a forum on civil rights. Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan’s president, met with local activists for the first time in the country’s history and was given a rainbow flag. Taipei’s Bureau of Civic Affairs produced brochures affirming that homosexuality is based in biology and outlining gay history and culture.

On July 2, 1999, India held its first public celebration of LGBT Pride, a Friendship Walk in Calcutta where flowers were passed out along with brochures. Closer to home, the South Asian Lesbian and Gay Association (SALGA) marched in New York City’s Indian Independence Day parade on March 20, 2000, for the first time since 1992. For seven years, SALGA’s requests to march were ignored. They were told that they were not part of the community. Locally, Trikone has proudly marched in the San Jose Indian Independence Day parade for a number of years without incident.

Bangkok held its first Gay Festival on October 31, 1999, with thousands participating in a “Fantasy Parade” in the Silom-Surawong district which is home to a number of lesbian and gay businesses. The event, which capped a month of social and cultural activities, received front page coverage in a number of major Thai newspapers providing important visibility for the Thai lesbian, gay and kathoey (male-to-female transgenders) communities. In 1999, Indonesia also celebrated its first Gay Pride in Surabaya while the Philippines held its fifth annual Pride March on June 17, 2000, in the capital of Manila.

Asia’s trailblazer is Japan which held its first Gay Pride Parade on August 28, 1994, when 1,500 marchers walked the three miles from the Shinjuku district, which has about 400 gay bars, to neighboring Shibuya. Among the marchers, lesbians significantly outnumbered gay men and in 1997 they organized the first Lesbian march. In 1999, the Japanese Commemorative Day Assocation approved April 4th as Transgender Day and an education session was held in Tokyo. Transgender Day falls halfway between Dolls Day Festival for girls held on March 3rd and the annual Boys Festival held on May 5th.

On June 25, 2000, the San Francisco-based Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center (A&PIWC) produced the first ever Asian & Pacific Islander Pride Stage as part of its ongoing efforts to educate Asian and Pacific Islander communities about the need for HIV testing, practicing safer sex and accessing health care services. As Astyle.com reported, “The biggest names in Asian entertainment, as well as some local acts, lent their time to show their support for HIV Awareness. It is rare to see Asian representation at gay pride celebrations, something that's very much needed to bring HIV awareness to the Asian Community.” And what talent did the Stage showcase? International pop sensation Coco Lee sang from her new album Just no other way. While only 24 years old, CoCo had already sold over 7 million albums when she appeared at Pride 2000. CoCo supplied the voice for Mulan in the Mandarin version of Disney's animated film. Comedian Margaret Cho, San Francisco Pride 2000’s Grand Marshall, also performed, as did dozens of dance and musical groups from a wide range of Asian and Pacific Islander communities.

Queer Asian & Pacific Islander Pride Scholarship Fund Parades and Stages are just one way of building pride. Thanks to the generosity of visionary philanthropist Edward Cheng Ming Tang the Queer Asian & Pacific Islander Pride Scholarship Fund was launched in 2000 by A&PIWC to distribute $16,000 each year. “The goal of this landmark scholarship program is to help eradicate the isolation, invisibility, homophobia and heterosexism faced by thousands of Asian and Pacific Islander lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth living in the Bay Area and beyond,” said A&PIWC’s executive director John Manzon-Santos. “An equally important outcome will be that all teachers, parents and young people who learn about the Pride Scholarship will be reminded that their Asian and Pacific Islander students, children and friends might be struggling to come out and need their support.”

Musubi
For over five years, a group of middle-aged Japanese gay men with HIV/AIDS have gathered monthly at Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center for workshops and social gatherings. The name of the group is Musubi or “Rice Ball” -- a food that Japanese often carry while hiking or bring to picnics. You often see it in a school kid’s Bento-box (lunch box). Musubi is derived from the verb musubu which means to tie, to connect, to ally, and to bear fruit. In the same spirit, the group has created ties of friendship and a connection to the home country.

One participant says that the group is therapeutic because he can speak out freely in Japanese, especially in onei-kotoba (Japanese gay talk), without worrying about the reaction of heterosexual Japanese. He adds that the group has established nakama-ishiki (comradeship) allowing them to care and help each other. In fact, the group is loud and animated, sometimes almost uncontrollable when they start dishing each other. Participants often show their care and concerns for each other.

Most members of the group have been in the United States for more than 20 years and contracted HIV while in the U.S. They left a Japan they saw as rigid and patriarchal. It was before Japanese gay liberation; gays and lesbians were the invisible outsiders of Japanese society in which heterosexual marriage was strongly valued and required for those seeking promotions in Japanese corporations.

Most members of Musubi came to the U.S to live freely as gay men. They were sexually active in the 70’s and early 80’s, enjoyed their freedom and unfortunately became HIV+. Most participants have not disclosed their HIV status to their families in Japan and have no intention to do so. One participant, who drives for two hours to attend the group, says that he came to the U.S. because of his sexuality and now he cannot go back to Japan because of discrimination not only against people with HIV/AIDS but also against family members of HIV-positive individuals. He “does not cause trouble for his family.” As a result, many individuals with HIV/AIDS in Japan are closeted. Most members of Musubi are closeted about their HIV status even to the heterosexual Japanese community in San Francisco. The group provides participants with a safe space to develop their extended family, support each other emotionally, celebrate Japanese holidays together, and reconnect with their inner Japanese-ness.

Even today, many Asians and Pacific Islanders immigrate to the U.S. to find the space needed to be out and proud. Marching in San Francisco’s LGBT Pride Parade is a powerful act of affirmation that for now is only possible in pockets of Asia and the Pacific.

This article first appeared in Pride.01, the official magazine of San Francisco Pride, June 2001.




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