Two decades after Massachusetts legalized gay marriage and after decades of battles for equal rights for gays and lesbians, the struggle for acceptance still continues for some, especially in Asian American communities.
“I came out to my parents in high school, where I hoped that they would be accepting of the fact that I had a girlfriend, instead of their Christian Korean boyfriend standard,” a Korean-American Boston College student, who wishes to keep her name private, told the Sampan recently.
Her parents immediately separated the two. “I was not allowed to see my girlfriend ever again. These days I identify with being bisexual in hopes that I can find someone who can live up to my parent’s expectations.”
As June marks Pride Month, the month to celebrate people who identify with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer, or LGBTQ, discrimination and misunderstandings persist. Queer acceptance has come a long way over the past half a century. It was only in 2003 that Lawrence vs. Texas was decided by the Supreme Court, effectively protecting the rights of same-sex relationships in all 50 states. In that landmark decision, a Texas law that had criminalized consensual, sexual conduct between individuals of the same sex was found to violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
That came after the HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s, which at the time was largely viewed a disease of gay men.
But despite the progress made by the LGBTQ community, many obstacles remain.
Cindy Truong, director of the Non-Binary/Transgender National Association of Asian American Professionals, for example, points out that most common queer spaces are “male and pale.”
Truong says the majority of queer spaces, or safe places for LGBTQ people, focus on the homosexual, white male gay population, and that there is not enough representation to cover the full spectrum of being queer and Asian. Truong said that Pride month should be a way of reflecting and appreciating the past, while also thinking ahead to the future of the community.
“As an international student from China, I feel like Massachusetts is relatively safe, welcoming, and accepting,” another college student told Sampan, but added, “As a gay individual, my family doesn’t know about it. I’m pretty sure if they know we will face ongoing conflicts or estrangement. … Families’ reactions can be influenced by traditional values and cultural expectations. Furthermore, I never proclaim ‘I’m coming out,’ because I believe that, like heterosexuals, people do not have to say it if they are straight.”
