_ This website was created by Chrissy Lee, Lucy (Siqing) Liu, and Wynee Bao for Asian _Am-214: Asian American History during winter quarter 2012 at Northwestern University.
Introduction
The Asian American LGBTQ community is an anomaly. The Asian population in America totals to almost 6% and LGBTQ citizens in America totals to almost 8%. Both are clearly minorities in a predominantly white and heterosexual society, but what does being a double minority entail? We examine the prejudice and discrimination that LGBTQ Asian Americans face from both their Asian American and LGBTQ communities. We investigate their current status through the contexts of intergenerational dynamics, the American military, and the LGBTQ community as a whole.
Thesis
_ Asian American LGBTQ are a double minority that suffers from homophobia and racial intolerance in America. There is often conflict between conservative East Asian parents and subsequent generations leading these younger AA to struggle creating an identity where there is no paved path and few role models. The military, a place where homosexuality and race can easily become highly visible factors, becomes fertile grounds for discrimination. Even in the LGBTQ community, AA are looked down upon by AA and non-AA alike. Since there is no community for Asian American LGBTQ to fully belong to, this small double minority must create its own.
Origins
The rise of the gay movement in American began in the early 1960’s when many lesbian and gay activist groups emerged in the midst of the civil rights and woman movements. As a result, homosexuality in American became more accepted, prompting same-sex marriage laws and more acceptance towards homosexuality. The prominence of the LGBTQ community in the United States inspired many Asian Americans to explore their sexuality, an idea which was thought to be taboo in the Asian American community. Though the formation of an Asian American LGBTQ identity was faced with stigmatization and discrimination from both the Asian American community as well as the predominately white LGBTQ community, this identity has risen in prominence as the result of the development of an Asian American LGBTQ community with unique struggles that forms distinct identities from both the Asian American and LGBTQ communities. A 2000 U.S. Census poll revealed that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders comprise 3% of individuals in same-sex couples in the United States (Leong, 2006).