Written by: Jeff Deguia, LA Regional Advocate
On Easter Sunday, we marched with over 40 other community-based partners and more than 2,000 community members at the inaugural Drag March led by the Los Angeles LGBT Center (planned in only three weeks!) It was a sunny and warm Sunday that brought together members of the LGBTQIA+ community, representatives from queer and transgender-serving organizations, elected officials, and some of the fiercest drag queens. We all came together to fight against the over 400+ pieces of anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation that have been introduced and passed across the country.
AJSOCAL has been a staunch supporter of the LGBTQIA+ community for years. One of the most recent major fights being towards marriage equality while supporting our partner API Equality – LA. It was an easy decision that AJSOCAL would not only co-sponsor Drag March LA as a community partner but also build a staff contingent to march and rally.
Though recent months have seen attacks on Drag Queens, the trans community has been fighting these battles for years. Now, both bills and laws are targeting trans youth from receiving affirming care. It’s important to note that California is not safe from this rhetoric. A forced outing bill was introduced in California that places our LGBTQIA+ youth at risk.
Some of our country’s fiercest community leaders who created remarkable change are LGBTQIA+ and were also drag queens. The modern Pride we celebrate today was in part due to two transgender women from New York City. Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Riviera were trans women, drag queens, and strong advocates. Separately they were leaders, but together they were friends and founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.)
A few years back when I learned more about LGBTQIA+ history and saw it was rooted in fierce individuals like Marsha and Sylvia, I was so disappointed that I didn’t know this sooner. Even as courageous advocates, they and the transgender community were ostracized within the New York LGBTQIA+ community.
In modern day movements, we often forget how fiercely our community leaders, elders, and ancestors fought for our rights. There are moments that I see discourse about the way communities mobilize and how there’s a “right way,” or there’s complacency because it’s “not as bad” as before. Even if it’s true, we cannot rest on our laurels and pretend that our communities are not continuously being attacked.
Those in the AAPI community might question why or how LGBTQIA+ issues are relevant to AAPIs. The answer is simple, there are LGBTQIA+ Asian American and Pacific Islander community members. It should be obvious, but those at the intersection of these two communities are often invisible. Social movements and progress do not come at the expense of others in our community, especially those at the margins. When we ask for visibility and recognition from other communities and mainstream society, the demand is that they see ALL of us. Internally, it means that we recognize our privileges and uplift fellow community members and communities when we can. Change does not happen in silos. Impactful change includes everyone as we educate, call-in and approach the movement with openness and with a focus on inclusion.
AJSOCAL celebrates 40 years of serving the AAPI community which includes the greater LGBTQIA+ community. We have recently updated our mission, vision, and core values for the first time since our founding and it reflects not only our past but propels and affirms us into the future. One of our new core values is courage. It takes an enormous amount of courage to stand up for yourself and others in your community, it takes courage to uplift the voices of those who are often overlooked or overshadowed. AJSOCAL has the visibility to help uplift these egregious anti-LGBTQIA+ bills and ensure that our LGBTQIA+ AAPI community members know they can count on us to use our resources to fight toward progress and equity.
AJSOCAL proudly stands with the LGBTQIA+ community and will ensure that we are building a better future so that all members of our AAPI community can thrive. Marriage equality only came into law within the last fifteen years, the community is still a target of hate crimes, and the community still faces countless attacks on our bodies, futures, and our humanity. If I’ve learned anything from leaders like Sylvia P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, it’s to be brave and to not stop or stay silent until everyone is free.