For this entire week, a fabulous group of LGBT and allied guest bloggers have recognized the transition from May as AAPI Heritage Month to June as LGBT (lesbian/ gay/ bisexual/ transgender) Pride Month.  These blog postings represent some of the leading voices in any of our communities and we’re proud to bring them to you.  The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) is glad to work with Asian Pacific Americans for Progress on this and is committed to continued partnership on issues that affect us all. 

The entry below is from Deanna Kitamura, whose life and work exemplify the intersectionality between communities and movements that our posts have been exploring thus far.  As a staffer at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, she works firmly within the Asian American/ Pacific Islander civil rights movement and has profound impact on our communities every day.  As an active member of API Equality- Los Angeles, her work there clearly moves the LGBT community forward on the march to marriage equality.  Don’t ask her to choose which is more important! 

The Importance of API LGBT Visibility

A few weeks ago, I was putting temporary tattoos on strangers at the Long Beach Pride Festival.  I was doing this as part of outreach efforts for API Equality-LA, a coalition of LGBTs (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals) and allies working on marriage equality and other civil rights issues affecting API LGBTs.  We gave out free tattoos and stickers to festival attendees who stopped by our booth to learn about our coalition.  We shared a booth with AQWA (Asian/Pacific Islander Queer Women/Transgender Activists), Gamba Adisa Quilombo (a women/transgender of color group), and KUE (Korean Americans United for Equality).  Although we annually share a booth with API groups at the West Hollywood Pride festival and march in that parade, this was our first time at Long Beach Pride.   

Some might think that doing outreach at pride events is like preaching to the choir.  But we do this type of outreach because it’s a great way to get new folks involved in our coalition.  It’s also important because APIs need to be seen and heard in the fight for LGBT civil rights, just as API representation in the media or any other forum is important.  Moreover, the only way to get a seat at the table with the statewide marriage equality groups (who often decide how marriage equality campaign money is divided up) is to be a visible player. 

Of course, our outreach and visibility is particularly important in the API communities.  Some API community members may not know any LGBTs let alone any API LGBT individuals.  Without API LGBT visibility, the API community might only hear the opponents of marriage equality or might think that marriage equality is not an issue that affects API individuals.  Not surprisingly, surveys indicate that people who know someone who is LGBT are more likely to support civil rights for LGBTs.  In addition to co-sponsoring educational events such as the June 2 “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” town hall in El Monte, we continue to do outreach at API community festivals such as the San Gabriel Valley Lunar New Year Festival and co-sponsor films at the Asian American Film Festival to show our presence in the API community.  In fact, in addition to our first Long Beach Pride event, earlier this year, we had another first by marching with the Vietnamese LGBT contingent at the Tet parade in Little Saigon.  To read a blog about the Tet parade, go to www.aqwa.org/say-it-loud.html.  If you would like to be a part of the marriage equality movement, contact API Equality-LA at contact@apiequalityla.org. To learn more about the coalition, go to www.apiequalityla.org.

Deanna Kitamura

Asian Pacific American Legal Center staff and API Equality-LA member