From InformAsian, GAPSN Monthly Newsletter, September, 2000

On July 24, 2000 Patrick Mangto, GAPSN Co-Chair, was asked to speak to the Presidential Commission an API Issues focusing on LGBT concerns. This was an incredible opportunity to have the White House hear about issues of concern about the community. To have GAPSN be one of the few that were allowed testify was both a privilege and honor. Here are some of the highlights of his presentation:

The issues affecting the Asian American (AA) LGBT community are of being a minority within a minority group and not having equal representation or tolerance from the main stream AA community. The important issues affecting the AA LGBT community are:

• Civil Rights (hate crimes, domestic violence including emotional and physical violence on coming out issues, domestic partnership, economic/job discrimination, LGBT Immigration,)
• HIV/AIDS and health services
• Social Services (youth, sexuality and gender identification issues, Substance abuse, residency status issues, linguistic and cultural issues, Homeless/displaced persons, aging, etc.)

LGBT issues are generally not addressed in the AA community at any level. Much of this is because AA, culturally speaking, generally do not talk about issues pertaining to sexuality.

The other reason is that the AA community does not prize individuality the way that Western cultures do. As a result, when a person comes out their family, it is not seen as a person asserting his/her independence. Instead, it is perceived as something that the whole family must deal with as a family unit. The immediate result is fearing the issue likely will bring shame and ridicule upon the family from the API community.

In improving the life of AA LGBT we need to:

Recognize that AA LGBT individuals and communities are an integral part of the AA communities and that these communities do not necessarily provide adequate services to AA LGBTs. As a result, AA Community Based Organizations (CBO) cannot assume AA LGBTs are served by mainstream LGBT CBOs. There are language and cultural barriers that may keep AA LGBTs from receiving services from mainstream LGBT CBOs. This need is especially critical in areas where AA populations are not very large.

Recognize and fund programs that address "multiple marginalization" as the key barrier to service provision, quality of life issues, etc. for AA LGBTs (as well as other multiple marginalized communities).

Continue and increase support of the development and provision of Culturally/linguistically appropriate health and HIV/AIDS services for AA LGBT and AA communities in general.

Develop and fund cultural programming that addresses the needs of AA LGBT experiences through which the mainstream AA community can be educated about uniqueness of the LGBT issues.

Tolerance Campaign, (LGBT Issues/Homophobia in AA Workshops, etc.) - Externally, from a national mandate, or perhaps through national AA organizations, we need to address the question of "alternative families," not as antithetical to family, but an elaboration on the basic human need for developing communities to adapt to different definitions of family. The solution to some of the issues mentioned is support from the federal level, with funding streams, and capacity building that will help the AA LGBT community start the dialogue with the main stream AA community. It would help, if and when federal dollars are allocated to AA CBO's, that it be encouraged, at the federal level, that some work be done to foster LGBT or HIV issues

GAPSN's campaign is a small drop in the bucket in community recognition the model for gaining acceptance is developed for LA County, but with some modification can work at the national level.

With the change in the demographic, Asian Americans will be close to 17 percent of the general population in LA County. Combined 10 percent of society being LGBT, one can see that an important whole section of the population group is not being represented. AA mainstream CBO's are not administering to this segment of the community. What we need is Federal funding stream directly to AA LGBT CBOs, to develop and continue the effort of building a bridge for acceptance and understanding by the mainstream AA community. And also the federal funding is needed by AA LGBT CBOs to do capacity building so that they can provide adequate and appropriate services to its own community.