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"Pride and Heritage 2006"

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Fact sheet: Asian/Pacific Islander Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Communities

· There are no figures on how many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning/queer (queer) Asian/Pacific Islanders live in the metropolitan Washington D.C.-Baltimore area. The metropolitan Washington D.C.-Baltimore area does have one of the 5 largest Asian populations in the United States, according to the Census Bureau (with 373,000). The Asian American Federation of New York recently released a report analyzing Census data on same-sex couples in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The report is available on their Web site at www.aafny.org.

· A/PI queers and A/PI allies have been active in the D.C. Metro area in a variety of different aspects of public life in the D.C. Metro area. Openly queer A/PIs have served on Mayor Williams' A/PI Advisory Commission and his LGBT Advisory Commission. Noted author, Wayne State University Law School Dean, and Asian American straight ally Frank Wu is the former chair of the D.C. Human Rights Commission, where he was involved with the ruling against the Boy Scouts in D.C. because of the discrimination written into their by-laws.

· The queer A/PI organizations that comprise the Pride and Heritage planning committee help build vibrant communities in the D.C. metropolitan area. Their work is noted in a variety of arenas, including: direct service, advocacy, philanthropy, cultural performance, and activism (please see About Us for more information about these organizations).

· Nationally, LGBTQ A/PIs have been at the forefront of social justice movements, and have helped nurture solidarity between A/PI and LGBTQ advocacy organizations. The Japanese American Citizens League (www.jacl.org) issued a statement of support on the issue of same-sex marriage in Hawaii in 1993 when the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of several same-sex couples (including APIs) seeking to be married. More recently, Asian Equality, a collaboration of local and national A/PI organizations, issued a strong statement in support of marriage equality, and continues to organize communities to support lgbt rights. The 2004 Pride and Heritage speakers, Mala Nagarajan and Vega Subramaniam, are plaintiffs in an important marriage equality lawsuit in Washington State.

· LGBTQ organizations have recently begun to work more actively in A/PI communities around the country. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (www.glaad.org) worked closely with organizations around the country (including Pride and Heritage organizers) to denounce an anti-Asian and homophobic piece in Details magazine (see also the reference below to GLAAD's Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Kit).

· Other organizations, such as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force have also done work around issues of the LGBTQ A/PI communities. The Task Force issued a study in February 2005 revealing that 82% of Asian Pacific American (APA) lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation, and the same percentage had experienced discrimination based on race or ethnicity.

For additional suggestions on covering Asian/Pacific Islander LGBT issues, we recommend checking out the resources at the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation's Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Kit, a comprehensive collection of resources for journalists and producers covering at http://www.glaad.org/publications/resource_doc_detail.php?id=3047.

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