Tag: queerness

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Queerness and Multiculturalism

[T]hey can bridge the intersections of their identity to find self happiness.

Creator:
Shih-wei Wang 王詩薇

Whenever race is discussed, there is often an implicit heteronormativity that pervades those discussions. Shih-wei’s paper complements another paper in this collection (by Clover Lee) by centring the representation of queer Asians. Unlike Clover’s paper, however, Shih-wei focuses on the experiences of queer Asians as portrayed through literature. In doing so, she breaks down the social construction of a “queer Asian diasporic identity” by reflecting on all the different ways in which such an identity is constructed within the context of a Eurocentric and heteronormative hegemony. As you read through Shih-wei’s paper, if you embody a queer Asian diasporic identity, do her reflections resonate with you?

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Invisible Queerness

Being queer and Asian is “a very powerful identity.”

Creator:
Clover Lee (she/they)

Mainstream discussions around diversity and representation often revolve around culture/race/ethnicity; but it’s obvious that an intersectional approach is needed to better address and understand people’s experiences. What happens when race and queerness intersect? What kinds of experiences do they have that might be different from those who aren’t queer? In Clover’s paper, she explores the experiences of queer Asians in Vancouver to illustrate the power of such an intersectional identity, and also the challenges of embodying this intersectional identity while navigating an LGBTQIA+ space that is very White-centric, as well as domestic spaces that are very heteronormative. While it is challenging to have to navigate these spaces and deal with discrimination in multiple forms in numerous spaces, the people featured in Clover’s paper are resolute in their pride for their identity.

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“I don’t feel like I am desirable”

[G]ay Asian men must get their membership ‘approved’ when white gay men do not.

Author:
Nathan Bawaan

Nathan writes about the experiences of Asian Gay and Bisexual Men (GBM) and men who have sex with men (MSM), and the struggles that they often have to deal with – systemic racism within LGBTQ+ communities, the resulting internalized racism, and how both impact their mental health. As Nathan explains, Asian GBM and MSM exist in a system in which they sometimes reject their own ethnic identities and idealize Whiteness (and particularly White gayness), often out of a desire to fit into LGBTQ+ spaces. This piece dovetails nicely with Tiffany Ou’s animation about the stripping down of the fight for queer liberation into effectively a gay White man’s struggle. Nathan points out that this kind of self-loathing, to the point of not recognizing oneself as being desirable, presents particularly difficult mental health challenges for Asian GBM and MSM – with extremely concerning physical health implications, too. How, then, can Asian GBM MSM find community within LGBTQ+ spaces, or must they create their own?

Click on the following to reveal the paper (Note: PDF viewer not compatible with some mobile platforms; but it is available for download or to view via mobile PDF viewers)

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Thresholding

“So, what did nice conservative gay white men do? They sell a community that liberated them down the river” – Sylvia Rivera

Artist:
Tiffany Ou 欧倩怡 (she/her)

Queerness. Queerness is an identity, and it’s also a way of existing. Queerness, though, isn’t just about being queer. What many boil down to a single point of discourse is actually a complex interplay of multiple identities and intersectionalities at the same time. Tiffany’s illustration/animation shows the viewer a simple yet effective visual representation of how cultural and historical discourse often oversimplifies the richness of queerness into a single issue. In the context of a society with lots of societal defaults, the erasure of the richness of queerness and the diversity among queer folks fighting for liberation often converges into the image of a struggle for White cisgender gay men’s recognition. What implications does this have for racialized queer folks fighting (/who fought) for liberation, and what more needs to be done?

Click on the following to reveal the artist’s statement (Note: PDF viewer not compatible with some mobile platforms; but it is available for download or to view via mobile PDF viewers)

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Voices of Queer Asian Canadians

Voices of Queer Asian Canadians: Identity and Belonging for the Queer Asian Diaspora in Vancouver

Author:
Alger Liang 梁家傑

Queerness is a set of identities that many individuals in Asian diasporic communities still face barriers over due to a combination of the perceived clashes between queerness and Asian cultural traditions/concepts, and a lack of understanding/discussion on the part of friends, families, and family members from older generations. This is compounded by the racism that queer Asian Canadians experience in the face of a predominantly White queer scene in Canada, compelling queer Asian Canadians to create communities by themselves for themselves. Read as Liang summarizes some important themes underlying three queer Asian Canadians’ experience as they explore what it means to be a queer Asian for them. “Identity” is a complex issue, especially when it exists at the intersection of multiple dimensions of marginalization. Can better understanding of these intersections allow for a better equipped society to helping each other achieve liberation?

Click on the following to reveal the paper (Note: PDF viewer not compatible with some mobile platforms; but it is available for download or to view via mobile PDF viewers)

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