Original Article by SIG Members
Breaking the Silence on Anti-Asian Racism within the LGBTQ+ Community
Cindy J. Chang, Psy.M., Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University
May 2, 2021
Breaking the Silence on Anti-Asian Racism within the LGBTQ+ Community
Cindy J. Chang, Psy.M., Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University
May 2, 2021
When the video of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee’s fatal assault popped up on my newsfeed, I couldn’t help but picture my parents. I called them that night, and we reluctantly agreed they would wear sunglasses and hats in public to avoid being targeted. In 2020, hate crimes in the United States dropped by 7%.¹ In contrast, hate crimes targeting Asian² people rose by nearly 150%.¹ As story after story came out about yet another Asian person being violently attacked, the Asian community waited for the world to notice.
After the string of attacks in Oakland and the massacre in Atlanta, I was surprised by the reactions. People who had no idea about anti-Asian violence, people who used these events to justify anti-Black racism, people who argued that anti-Asian racism does not exist because we are “doing well” – all products of the Model Minority Myth and the Perpetual Foreigner Myth.⁵ These myths are based on stereotypes that Asian Americans are law-abiding and have succeeded through hard work.⁵ These myths minimize anti-Asian racism, ignore diversity within our community, and drive a wedge between Asian people and other racialized groups. In other words, everyone loses.
When I came out as bisexual, I thought the LGBTQ+ community would be one where shared experiences of marginalization would translate to automatic acceptance and belonging. But experience has taught me that the LGBTQ+ community is not immune to anti-Asian racism. Asian LGBTQ+ people often experience marginalization from both the Asian community and the LGBTQ+ community. Here are some of the facts:
We need to have uncomfortable conversations about racism in the LGBTQ+ community. We also need to have conversations about heterosexism and cissexism in the Asian community. Asian LGBTQ+ people are too often silenced for being Asian and too often silenced for being LGBTQ+.
It is time to break the silence.
For resources on supporting Asian LGBTQ+ people, visit: https://aapaonline.org/resources/LGBTQ+-aapi-resources/.
After the string of attacks in Oakland and the massacre in Atlanta, I was surprised by the reactions. People who had no idea about anti-Asian violence, people who used these events to justify anti-Black racism, people who argued that anti-Asian racism does not exist because we are “doing well” – all products of the Model Minority Myth and the Perpetual Foreigner Myth.⁵ These myths are based on stereotypes that Asian Americans are law-abiding and have succeeded through hard work.⁵ These myths minimize anti-Asian racism, ignore diversity within our community, and drive a wedge between Asian people and other racialized groups. In other words, everyone loses.
When I came out as bisexual, I thought the LGBTQ+ community would be one where shared experiences of marginalization would translate to automatic acceptance and belonging. But experience has taught me that the LGBTQ+ community is not immune to anti-Asian racism. Asian LGBTQ+ people often experience marginalization from both the Asian community and the LGBTQ+ community. Here are some of the facts:
- “No Fats, Femmes, or Asians:” Asian people face dating discrimination within the LGBTQ+ community. People pass off racism as a sexual or romantic preference.⁶ It was only within the past year that Grindr removed an “ethnicity filter” from the app, which had allowed users to filter out prospective partners based on ethnicity labels.⁷ Even when desired, Asian people are often subjected to exotification and fetishization.
- Most Asian LGBTQ+ students experienced harassment in school in the past year because of their identity.⁸ The model minority stereotype that all Asian students excel academically downplays their experiences of racism and discrimination. As a result, Asian LGBTQ+ students face both the challenges of LGBTQ+-related harassment and racism, as well as expectations to succeed academically regardless.⁸
- Asian LGBTQ+ people are more vulnerable to mental and sexual health problems because of structural oppression, marginalization, and discrimination.⁹
- Experiences of LGBTQ+ Asian individuals vary greatly, yet the term “Asian” is often used to refer to people of East Asian descent as a monolith.¹⁰ This denies the unique experiences of the many cultural groups within East Asia and entirely removes South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander people from the narrative.
We need to have uncomfortable conversations about racism in the LGBTQ+ community. We also need to have conversations about heterosexism and cissexism in the Asian community. Asian LGBTQ+ people are too often silenced for being Asian and too often silenced for being LGBTQ+.
It is time to break the silence.
For resources on supporting Asian LGBTQ+ people, visit: https://aapaonline.org/resources/LGBTQ+-aapi-resources/.
References
- Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism (2020). Fact Sheet: Anti-Asian Prejudice March 2020. https://www.csusb.edu/sites/default/files/FACT%20SHEET-%20Anti-Asian%20Hate%202020%203.2.21.pdf
- Note that we use the term “Asian” to refer to the broad umbrella of Asian/Asian American/Pacific Islander people, including East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian, and Pacific Islander communities.
- Fuller, T. (2021, March 19). Violent attacks against Asian-Americans persist in the Bay Area. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/19/us/San-francisco-attacks-Asians.html
- Fuller, T., & Cowan, J. (2021, March 17). 8 Dead in Atlanta Spa Shootings, With Fears of Anti-Asian Bias. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta-acworth
- Blackburn, S-S. (2019, March 21). What is the model minority myth? Learning for Justice. https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/what-is-the-model-minority-myth
- Hong, C-s. (2008). Not fats, femmes or Asians: The utility of critical race theory in examining the role of gay stock stories in the marginalization of gay Asian men. Contemporary Justice Review, 11(1), 11-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/10282580701850355
- Lim, G. Robards, B., & Carlson, B. (2020, June 7). Grindr is deleting its ‘ethnicity filter’. But racism is still rife in online dating. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/grindr-is-deleting-its-ethnicity-filter-but-racism-is-still-rife-in-online-dating-140077
- GLSEN and the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance. Erasure and resilience: The experiences of LGBTQ students of color. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED603844.pdf
- Ching, T. H. W., Lee, S. Y., Chen, J., So, R. P., & Williams, M. T. (2018). A model of intersectional stress and trauma in Asian American sexual and gender minorities. Psychology of Violence, 8(6), 657–668. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000204
- Nadal, K. (2020). The brown Asian American movement: Advocating for South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Filipino American communities. https://aapr.hkspublications.org/2020/02/02/the-brown-asian-american-movement-advocating-for-south-asian-southeast-asian-and-filipino-american-communities/