Timeline of Progression of the Inter-generation Gap between Asian American LGBTQ and their Families
What is Origin of these “traditional” views?
The “traditional” and homophobic views held by Asian American parents can be traced to the ideals of Confucianism and Taoism, which highly influenced East Asian culture. Confucian dogma emphasizes a hierarchal structure in the family where the child must obey the parents and the wife must obey and support the husband. However homosexual relationships do not fit into the delineated Confucian order. In addition, Taoism focuses on the ideas of yin and yang where yin symbolizes a weak and passive force and yang symbolizes a strong and active force. The union of yin and yang thus represents the marriage of a female and male and is thought to be the pinnacle of human fulfillment (Lin, 2002). However, same sex marriage does not follow this ideal and is thus thought to violate the natural balance of life , yin-yang.
| Progression of Asian American Intergenerational Gap
Since the late 1980's, many research studies surrounding the issues of family rejection and Asian American homosexuals have surfaced. These studies mainly consist of interviews and surveys of Asian American homosexuals and their parents. Connie Chan's research article titled "Issues of Identity Development among Asian-American Lesbians and Gay Men" reveals that a majority of Asian American homosexual teenagers do not come out to their parents because they fear rejection and abandonment. These fears are triggered by Asian American parents' "traditional" ideals about a proper family, which denounce homosexuality (Chan, 1989). This issue reaches more prominence as popular culture, such as movies, begins to shed light on this topic. In 1993 the popular movie The Wedding Banquet focuses on the struggles of a gay Asian American man Wai-tung who marries a woman in order to applease his parents. In the end of the movie, Wai-tung parents discover his true sexual orientation (Holden, 1993). However, instead of being faced with abandonment, his parents are both shocked and sad but ultimately understanding of their son's sexual orientation. Similary, in a research article conducted in 1995 titled "Stories from the Homefront: Perspectives of Asian American Parents with Lesbian Daughters and Gay Sons", parents of gay and lesbian Asian American children are interviewed about their reactions towards their children's sexual orientations (Hom,1994). Though all the parents said they are initially shocked and and disapproving, they eventually learn to accept their children. Comparisons of the opinions expressed in the "Stories from the Homefront" article and the "Issues of Identity Development among Asian-American Lesbians and Gay Men" suggest that there is a disparity between how Asian American gays and lesbians think their parents will respond and how their parents actually respond. Parent interivews in the "Stories from the Homefront" article do not support the abandonment claim made in the "Issues of Identity Development among Asian-American Lesbians and Gay Men" article. However both articles do suggest that parents do not openly accept their children's sexualities; rather, their acceptance is often forced. This idea is supported by the 2000 research paper titled, "Understanding Anti-LGBT Bias: An Analysis of Chinese-Speaking Americans’ Attitudes Toward LGBT People in Southern California". In this study researchers interviewed Asian Americans about their attitudes towards homosexuality. The study finds that most of the interviewees would grudgingly accept a lesbian or gay child but not before attempting to "correct" them (Tseng, 2000). However through the 2000's there is a shift to a more positive narrative towards this issue. Both the 2001 study titled "Coming out Discourses of Asian American Lesbians" and the 2003 study titled "The Negotiation of Political Identities: Being Queer and an Asian Pacific" suggest that Asian American parents have become more accepting of homosexuality. The "Coming out Discourses of Asian American Lesbians" article provides narratives of gay Asian Americans who have had postive experiences coming out to their parents. Their parents end up being very supportive (Li, 2001). In addition, "The Negotiation of Political Identities: Being Queer and an Asian Pacific" researchers commented on the increased involvement of parents in the Asian American LGBQ community (Xu, 2003). However, both articles still contain negative experiences with such issues. In one interview in "The Coming out Discourses of Asian American Lesbians", a Asian American parent calls her child a demon for being lesbian (Li, 2001). This mix of positive and negative reactions towards homosexuality suggests that even though some improvement has been made in this issue, stigmatism towards homosexuality among parents is still a pressing concern.
During the late 2000's many activist groups arose aiming to inform and help parents with homosexual children. The 2010 article titled "A Parent’s Perspective: Give Back Our Daughter’s Right to Marry" focuses on a Japanese American family who struggle to accept their daughter's homosexuality but overcome such hardship through a program called Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) (Kameya, 2010). Though there has been breakthroughs in collapsing the barrier between Asian American homosexuals and their parents, there still remains tensions between the two groups. The article "When it's Stifling to be out: Gay Asian American Men say Cultural values Keep Them From Coming Out" contains various interviews from gay Asian American men. The interviewees all fear coming out to their parents due to fear of abandonment by their "conservative" parents (Luu, 2009). Although strides have been made to bridge the gap between homosexual Asian American and their parents, some critics suggest that no such gap exists. Dr. Connie So, a supporter for this idea, argues that Asian American homosexuals do not have to mask their sexual identity because there is little homosexual stigmatization in the Asian American community. In addition, she argues that as a teacher she has never witnessed any troubles with her Asian American students during their coming out period (Wong, 2010). Thought it is evident that the inter generational gap exists between Asian American LGBQ and their parents and the Asian American Community, strides have been made in order to bridge that such gap leading to more acceptance towards LBGQ Asian Americans. |
