Racism in Predominantly White Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Communities

Shirley Q. Liquor Celebrates Racism and Gets (Gay) Applause (Michael Crawford, 2008)

White gay men talk a good game about how much they love strong Black women like Tina Turner, Mary J. Blige and Janet Jackson. But when it really comes down to it white gay men consider the lives of Black women spectacle to entertain themselves with and in the case of the white man in blackface known as Shirley Q. Liquor to denigrate, humiliate and profit from. Shirley Q. Liquor is in the words of the self-described “forty-five-year-old, fat, gay white man” who created the character “a welfare mother with nineteen kids who guzzles malt liquor, and drives a Caddy.” ...

Racism in GLBT Culture (Chip Clapp, 2008)

My father was American of European descent. My mother is Puerto Rican. I am keenly aware of race, and more so in the gay community which purports it's equality for all... Being gay and seeing the same things on a societal level, I expected gays to be much more open about race relations. I was proven wrong in the city of Atlanta, where my white "friends" were appalled that I would want to go into a "swirl" bar, where chocolate and vanilla mixed... After I moved to Fort Lauderdale in 2001, with the mixed Caribbean demographic, I expected a much more open society would greet me in the new millennium. 7 and a half years later, however, I still see the same behavior, which brings me to the point of this blog...

The Saga Continues.. Seattle Black Pride! (Nevin Jefferson. 2006)

I've been told by people of every race, creed, and ethnics that the so-called Gay Community is "The Most Racist Community" there is... Seattle Black Pride came about years ago by a group of successful Gay Black men and women. There was no Black representation in the Gay Community and they wanted to bring an end to this. The seed was planted as an idea, it sprouted as a dream, then bloomed into reality when Kiantha Ducan-Woods started harvesting Seattle Black Pride into the community.

The blog of five-time Lambda Literary Award finalist Randy Boyd: Rising Up Over Gay Racism. (2008)

So to help an author out, Othello and his Uprising are gonna tell it like it is, people to people: You nigger-fearing faggots need to get over y'all'selves and wise up. And rise up over the sick ideas you have about all black people. That's just yo' dumb-ass, great-grand-pappy talkin', spinning racist tales that over the years filtered into your small little brain before you knew shit about the world, which you still don't, by the way, as obvious by the pathetic way you advertise yourselves on the internet. The most popular phrase on the gay internet: WHITES AND LATINS ONLY, aka gay racism spelled out in ALL CAPS in case a nigga who's hard of reading logs on. Do you have a fucking brain? Or is it all fried out by drugs and all that sex with thousands of different men? Yep, thousands. Or are you just a stupid-ass monkey in a man suit? Maybe I tried to rise up against the wrong, narrow-minded pea brains in Uprising. Maybe Senator Jimmy Herman, the bastard I tried to off, was right. Maybe faggots really are a bunch of mutants incapable of a positive contribution to the world. If Senators Jesse Helms and Strom Thurman were still alive, they'd be proud of you fags, living up to their stereotypes and upholding their racial values. They led the WHITES ONLY brigade before you, you know. Who did you think you were monkeying with all your racist ideas and justifications? Jesse Helms is the grandpa of your dreams, faggot. He's your pappy's pappy, fool. Say hello to Grandfather Jimmy Herman, the homophobic Southern Senator in Uprising. You may vote for a biracial brutha who's your only light in dark times, but remember this: You yourself have not come a long way. Your WHITES ONLY “preferences” are keeping the legacy of slavery alive and well, faggots of America. Does it mean anything to your logical, white American mind that white Canadians and white Europeans are not as racist as you? How many white Canadian, Australian and European men have online profiles that say WHITES AND LATINS ONLY? Far fewer is an understatement. You still believe your white, all-American racist mind is of its own free will? Or was it born before you were because you were born in a country built by nigger slaves? Ma niggas. That's Grandpa Helms talking from your brain, boy. The same man who deemed you faggot and said faggots are sick sinners is the same man who taught you, WHITES ONLY, NOTHING PERSONAL, JUST A PREFERENCE. Looking for an all-American blond boy, or Mediterranean. Or Latin. Or Asian maybe. But no nigger dare touch my private parts or get that close to me. Nothing personal, just a preference. Don't take it personal if I rise up and act out your worst nightmares about niggers, right in front of your face, you racist fools. Nothing personal, my great black ass.

Kudler, Benjamin A (2007). Confronting race and racism : social identity in African American gay men. Thesis (M.S.W.) Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass. Abstract, Download Page. PDF, Full Text.

This qualitative study examines how race and racism function in gay communities, looking at factors facing African American gay men in their identity formation and daily experience. Specifically, this study has examined the presence of sexual racism, sexualized racial stereotypes that affect the way men of color are viewed by white gay men... African American gay men, often considered to be cultural outlaws by both Gay and African American communities, are subjected to sexual and traditional racism, and may be made to feel ignored or excluded from mainstream Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community events and spaces. In addition to stating their challenges, the study attempts to highlight these men’s strength and resiliency... The majority of participants were highly educated and middle- to upper-middle class, which is a skewed representation of the greater African-American gay population in Boston... In participant’s experiences, the color of their skin comes first in the context of gay communities, which tend to be predominately white. Participants felt separated, stratified, made to feel “less” than their white peers, and/or were sexualized because of their race, with many assumptions put upon them because of their skin color... Another manifestation of racism in gay communities has to do with the expectation of African American gay men to hold to stereotypical roles derived from a long history of stereotypes around African American masculinity, and more recently, from hip-hop culture... Participant’s discussion of the Down Low will be addressed later in the chapter. However, participants had a lot to say about the specific assumptions that white men placed on them based on their race and sexualized racial stereotypes, often tied to the Mandingo fantasy of African American men as hyper-sexual predators with huge penises, animalistic aggression, and low intelligence (McBride, 2005; Stevenson, 1994). Several participants said that relative strangers and intimate partners had used the phrase or even referred to them as “big black dick.”

The United States Black homosexual has faced a tumultuous existence as a human being containing two identities that have been thought, at best, to have irreconcilable differences. Because of the commonplace of such experiences, several authors have written about the rejection and ridicule experienced by Black homosexuals in Black communities because of their homosexuality. Yet, on the other hand, these authors have also discussed the Black homosexuals’ position as recipient of racism, prejudice and discrimination by “gay” (interpreted as White) communities because of their Blackness... Given the exclusivity of the “gay” community, and Black homosexuals inability to contribute to the forming of the “gay” identity and identifier, some Black homosexuals have been ‘forced’ to find an alternative identity and community (apart from one dominant by (White) homosexuals who identify as gay or lesbian)... According to the Same-Gender-Loving Website (2001), it was “in the spirit of self-naming, [and] ethnic/sexual pride, [that] the term ‘same-gender-loving’ (SGL) was introduced to fortify the lives and illuminate the voices of homosexual and bisexual people of color.” In addition, it attempts “to provide a powerful identity not marginalized by ‘racism’ in the gay community or ‘homophobic’ attitudes in society.” Since the time of its inception, this identity has offered Black homosexuals an alternative path to express their sexual orientation... In responding to attitudes of Black homophobia and gay racism, this movement has advanced in creating social clubs—Black Men’s Xchange—and cultural images—the Bawabu—to reflect its commitment to Black communities and protestation of “gay” symbols such as the “rainbow flag” and “pink triangle,” along with discrimination and prejudice based on racism and homophobia...

In The Family, 2: Celebrating the Builders of Black Gay Communities. PDF Download.

To many Black gay men and women, an overwhelming percentage of the Black community suffer from homophobia - an irrational fear of homosexuals. Like other phobias, it is rooted in a fear of the unknown. The influence of the Black Church, the importance of masculinity and the role of the family are said to be the underlying causes of homophobia in Black communities... This second edition of In the Family is a small attempt to dispel some of the irrational fears and ignorance that may fuel homophobia, and the general prejudice against people living with HIV.

Those of you who watch gay films or read gay magazines have CERTAINLY noticed glaring omissions. Major gay media almost NEVER feature Black couples. Why?! Research it. Pay close attention as your peruse major gay media. You will almost NEVER see two Blacks loving each other... Read any glossy gay magazine, like The Advocate or Curve. Notice how few Black couples you see within its pages? Those few black faces which are there are almost always grinning longingly into the faces of their white lovers/friends... I am FURIOUS about NEVER seeing Afrocentric homosexuals like me, my soulmate, and our friends in the "gay" media! I long for gay images that reflect my African reality.

Mays VM, Cochran SD, Rhue S (1993). The impact of perceived discrimination on the intimate relationships of black lesbians. Journal of Homosexuality, 25(4): 1-14. (Abstract)

Results suggested that those who had been in relationships with White lesbians reported more frequent experiences of discrimination that influenced their later decision to seek a Black lesbian partner for their next love relationship. Reactions toward lesbian community events ranged from avoidance to determined participation in response to feelings of alienation and racism.

On the other side, Black queers also suffer from the racism of the dominant white queer culture. As Hill writes, “in the dominant discourse and imagination . . . “gay” [still] means white and male.”[70] Keith Boykin, a Black queer writer and a former staff member of the Clinton White House, has written about how queer Blacks are often “excluded, exploited, or patronized” by white queer culture.[71] For example, Boykin writes about how queer Blacks are excluded from queer

clubs and bars that demand “multiple forms of identification for blacks to be admitted,” and how the “white gay media usually projects Eurocentric images of beauty that transmit messages of inferiority to blacks and others who do not fit into the white stereotype.”[72] The same dynamics are present in the theological realm. In a famous letter to white lesbian Mary Daly, Audre Lorde wrote: “What you excluded from Gyn/Ecology dismissed my heritage and the heritage of all other noneuropean women, and denied the real connections that exist between all of us.”[73] In sum, the queer Christ of color is present in the synarchical experiences of homophobia and racism that is faced by the Brother-to-Brother and the Sister Outsider...

My buddy Leon and other black gay men and lesbians say they sometimes feel excluded at mainstream gay functions, like the Pride events that attract hundreds of thousands of people to Piedmont Park each year. Some African-Americans I talked to say they experience racism in the gay community that's as stark and unsettling as it is in the broader culture. I've seen it in much smaller ways, too... Still, the social outlet is important. The same racism that permeates American society doesn't miss the gay community, he said... Local gay nightclubs used to use Jim Crow-like tactics to keep black patrons away, he said, and some still do what they can to discourage a large, black crowd... At the larger, general Pride events, it's the white standards -- of beauty, fun and values -- that are held up, "and we have to stick in there and accept your standards," Leon said. "So we have our own little event -- so we can celebrate those things that we find to be beautiful -- black music, black men, black culture."

In recent weeks, comments by an African-American AIDS activist about the spread of HIV among ethnic minorities sparked similar discussions about race within the gay community. That incident made clear that, while it will be a challenge to bridge the "great racial divide" in America, scaling the great Lavender Divide among gays will also be tricky...I’ve run into racism on the black side of the divide, too... But we have a unique opportunity to move forward in a dialogue of healing because we have a more unique understanding of discrimination and its pernicious effects on the human mind, heart and soul. We have seen discrimination damage our hearts and souls, and this should give us more empathy than the average American, who might be tempted to view any discussion of race as whining... If you don’t have a trusted friend of another race, you can still examine your own consciousness, understanding that the effort helps bridge the Great Lavender Divide, which is an important step
toward our quest to achieve liberty and justice for all.

Shockley, Ann Allen* (1927) Writer, editor, critic, librarian. Shockley was the first writer to feature an African-American lesbian as its major character, Loving Her, 1974. Shockley was also the first black author of a collection of lesbian short stories, The Black and White of It, 1980. Shockleys articles have raised the issue of Black lesbian invisibility and racism within the lesbian community.

Visitors to the Blackstripe were far more vocal about gay racism than they were about Black acceptance... What surprises me is that it seems folks would rather devote their energy to fighting gay racism, than they would to working to make the Black community a more accepting place for all of its members... Whenever the topic is racism in the gay community, it is inevitable that someone will bring up a case where he was asked to produce 20 picture IDs before being allowed entrance into a gay club. Here’s where I get into trouble; Who cares! Yes, it is discrimination, yes it’s hurtful and degrading but it hardly rates as an important civil rights struggle. Winning the right to spend money to be in the company of people who would rather not associate with you is no great victory. Yet, we waste energy on this, while efforts to heal the Black community are put on the back burner.

The characters in Donna Allegra’s book of short stories and a novella Witness to the League of Blond Hip Hop Dancers are most alive while taking dance class. And Allegra’s writing is at its most vibrant when describing different dancers’ bodies, and how they each move and interpret music... The main theme of Allegra’s work, aside from the search for human connection, is the sting of racism. "Race is probably the biggest taboo in American society," she says. "It’s at the bottom of everything that goes on in this world, as far as I can see. White people are in denial; they just ignore institutionalized racism."

I am a 43 year old white male who is sharing his life, hopes, and dreams with a 37 year old black male. It greatly disheartens me to discover that the gay community has broken into several racial groups each apparently pitted against the other under the guise of racial bigotry, diluting the overall influence of the gay community. As an inter-racial gay couple we have faced all kinds of bigotry. There are white bigots and black bigots that express there opinions that we should not be together because were are gay and there are gay white and gay black bigots within our own gay community that do not want us together. This kind of mentality splits the gay community along racial lines... As a gay community how can we possible hope to achieve any goals for equality if we promote and maintain racial bigotry within our own community? United we stand, but divided we will fall.

A week ago, while in New York City gleaning over the New York Times, I noticed a front-page article entitled "Killing Shakes Complacency Of The Gay Rights Movement." The article covered a local demonstration staged in reaction to the killing of Matt Sheppard - a 21 year old, gay [White] college student from Wyoming... As I read about the [White] gay/lesbian community's swell of reaction to Matt Sheppard - who has since become the poster child for hate-crimes in America. - and complacency and "success" in that community, I acknowledged my strong reaction to this report and how it marginalized the lives and experiences of people like me, who are same-gender-loving (SGL), bisexual or gay/lesbian identified Black Americans. Every year of my life Blacks, regardless of gender and sexuality, have experienced murderous hate-crimes executed by White civilians and law enforcement. Violence also occurs in the community as a result of Black-on-Black contempt for Black life, but that is not the focus of this writing. Acknowledgement of it is important - these are also hate-crimes generated from the fabric of America's brutally racist legacy. During the New York City rally [White] gay/lesbian protesters displayed pictures of past victims of hate-crimes, the majority of whom were Black and Latino. Yet, the issue of hate-crimes against "gays" did not reach prominence until one person died who was prototypical of most at the rally - Matt Shepphard - a White, homosexual male... Regardless of my forthright critique of [White] gay/lesbian racism, them not showing up to protest murder by hate-crime of Blacks, especially, Asians, Native-Americans or Latinos and prioritizing themselves is not my primary concern. My concern is how Blacks are still complacent in the wake of tragedy that effects us so severely. Though it is the epitome of White insensitivity, racism and arrogance for [White] gays/lesbians to make Matt Sheppard an icon of hate crimes, without being straight-up about that they prioritize the lives of Whites, I admire what White skin privilege and White power legacy inheritance in America has provided them...

Pinar WF (2006). Teaching the queer character of racism. In: K. Cooper and R. White (eds.), The Practical Critical Education, 111–120. Free Preview.

I am not suggesting that racism can be reduced to latent homosexual desire, or that if we could somehow uncork homosexual desire, racism would disappear in an orgy of reconciliation and love. Still, it might help. If White men could allow themselves to experience how their persisting fantasies about Black men are intertwined with suppressed desire, racism would, at the very least, be reconfigured. The racism of White gay men who desire Black men is instructive here (Hemphill, 1991). The focus remains on the Black male body, but now it is revalorized as desirable: the “rapist” is now “stud.” Black male subjectivity remains erased as the White male gaze remains fixed onto the same dark skin, the same muscled Black body that those sixteenth-century European invaders of Africa found so amazing and overwhelming that they wanted it for themselves, in subjugation, sexualized subjugation...

Gay pride doesn't erase racism. - by Curtis Lawrence (Chicago Sun-Times, June 28, 1998 - not available anymore from Autralian QRD): [40]

To Kelly, the willingness of politicians to speak at the event demonstrates the emerging political power of the minority gays and lesbians... "Kelly said issues important to African Americans are sometimes lost in the general discussions about gay culture. "The racism we have to face being black and male is one thing, but to be black, male and gay [we face] the most discrimination even within the gay community,'' he said." ..."We are asked to be in the pride parade for that one day, but we are not included over the entire year,'' he said. "Just because you're gay doesn't mean you can't be racist, sexist or classist.''

Racism in the Community- The Buzz (2008)

The big pink elephant in the room is raging and making more noise than ever. Here is what a few influential people in the community are saying about the topic of racism within the LGBT Community... As a gay African-American man having grown up in the politically correct era of the 80’s, I cannot say that I know what if feels like to be called a nigger to my face but I definitely know how it feels to be called a faggot and if someone were to ask me to sum up the difference between the two slurs, I could do so with one word- “none.” One would think an oppressed group such as the gay community would be exempt from such vile and racist behavior but as we’ve learned in the aftermath of Prop 8, this couldn’t be further from the truth... I've definitely witnessed racism in the gay community, even in places famous for embracing many cultures, such as San Francisco. A friend of mine who was black told me that when he walked around the Castro District, no one would give him eye contact. He felt as though they thought he was going to rob them or accost them in some way. He said it was different when he walked with me, because maybe people didn't feel as threatened when he was obviously friends with a white guy... I can speak from personal experience. I have faced more blatant racism within the gay community than the straight community. I remember when I first started go-go dancing in Denver, the booking agent told me I’d never leave Denver to dance because they didn’t fly out “little Latino boys” to other cities. I also remember another incident where a few white gay friends of mine laughed hysterically when they learned I called my boyfriend, “Papi,” remarking that it reminded them of some old toothless Mexican woman with bare feet. I dunno, its like when I'm up on the box dancing and showing lots of skin, eveyone loves you and wants to get it. When you are clothed, your just another dumb Mexican."

Activists Protest Closure of Black Castro Bar (Emily Alpert‚ 2005)

Racism within the Castro is nothing new, many report. "In the Castro, which is supposed to be the mecca of the gay community, there's no place for Black people," stated Swazzi Sowo, a former board member of San Francisco Pride. "The racism is so prevalent in the white gay community. In one particular store, a manager I know doesn't work there anymore, because people would come in and say, 'Look, there's a n***** working there." Sowo said that on three different occasions, she has been called racial epithets on the street. "It's like the '50s in Mississippi." "It's not really news to African-American people that go up there," said Smith. "We just finally got some attention to it. When they were pushing gay marriage, they were pushing it as a civil rights issue - but now that there's a civil rights issue on the table, they don't want to talk about it." He doesn't expect much from the Castro anymore. "People will have to head to Oakland, because there's not much left here for African-American people," he remarked.

Skeleton in gays' closets: Racism Bias investigation at Castro bar opens dialogue about prejudice. (Alternate Link) (Wyatt Buchanan, 2005)

They are among the most maligned groups in society, but when it comes to discrimination, many say, gays can give as good as they get. A city investigation of S.F. Badlands, one of the largest and most popular bars in the heart of the Castro neighborhood, has added evidence to that argument... "I have been called 'big, black nigger bitch' while walking on the street in the Castro," said Zwazzi Sowo, a lesbian who has lived in San Francisco for 20 years. "I am 52 years old. Nowhere else in my life have I experienced walking down the street and someone calling me a nigger." ... "When I asked lesbians if they had experienced or heard of discrimination at Badlands, they generally offered one of two responses: 'My friends and I feel unwelcome almost everywhere in Castro,' or simply, 'I don't even go to the Castro anymore,' " Newsome said... A 2002 survey of 2,600 gay black men attending pride celebrations, though unscientific in selection, found that 48 percent of respondents thought racism was a problem among white gays. That survey was published by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute, which in 2004 released the results of a similar survey of 125 mostly gay Asian Americans living on the East Coast. Eighty-two percent of respondents in that sample believed such a problem exists... "Racism is a universal human impulse. I think the definition itself, or certainly one definition, is pretty simple, and it's the inability to distinguish individuals within a racial group. It's a rejection of the human as an individual," he said. That includes personal ads that specify which races are desired or undesired, Steele said. Such a judgment is one that Teunis at San Francisco State said he agrees with, though he said gay men's openness about sexual preferences complicates the situation. Entire portions of the gay community define themselves by physical characteristics and create a sub-subculture of bars, barbershops, street festivals and the like to cater to men who look like they do. "In the gay community, you have to have a sexual preference, and that makes it more difficult to talk about race and racism," Teunis said... As debate and discussion continue, Teunis said the gay community's examination of its own skeletons still in the closet is a good sign. "I think it means the community is growing up," he said.

Wilson, Javarré Cordero (2006). The Negation of Black Gay Men in Castro’s Bars. The Black Studies Journal. Abstract. Full Text: Word Download.

I plan to highlight the experience of Black gay men and how they were often negated and discriminated within Castro’s bars. This paper will explore the experience of Black gay men and the privileges of white gays in Castro’s most popular bars... The privilege and oppression practiced within Castro’s bars fuels the hostility Blacks experience throughout the Castro as a whole. Many gay whites believe because they are considered a “minority” and have been discriminated against too they can not be racist... This ability to cleverly dance around race and evade the responsibility of owning up to one’s unearned privileges has led some white gays to a state of unconsciousness. McIntoch’s (1998) noted that, “Unconscious racism—being able to ignore issues surrounding race—is a key aspect of white privilege.” She goes on to point out that being white, male, and of the middle or upper class provides many unearned privileges (Chavez, et al., 2003, p. 130). White gays act as though they are unconsciousness to their unearned privileges, which further fuels racism and discrimination toward people of color, particularly Black gays. When whites benefit from a privileged position others, usually people of color, are often deprived of needed resources and rights. Even more today, many white gays in the Castro ignore the impact of white privilege and oppression by doing very little to tackle racism in all its forms. The term gay has, in the Castro and throughout America, continues to be synonymous with whiteness. There is very little or no representation of Black gay men within the Castro bars. Advertisement posted around clubs, bars, or communities are usually those of white gay men... I am surprised that in the 21st century we as Black gay men continue to experience the perpetual effects of racism and discrimination within a gay community that claims to embrace diversity. It is the responsibility and role of Black, white and other gays of color to collectively challenge and eliminate every form of racism and discrimination in whatever environment it takes form. It is also the responsibility of Black men to form our own communities and circles and stop relying on others to be inclusive of our struggles and concerns...

Gay Racism in San Francisco? (Matt Rosenberg, 2005)

Are too many white gay men, and one apparently very white gay bar in San Francisco's famed gay Castro District, racist? San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom last Friday appointed his predecessor Willie Brown to mediate a dispute between the city's human rights commission and the owner of a gay bar named Badlands, where the commission has determined that 13 instances of racial discrimination by the staff occured. While the city commission's finding on Badlands carry no legal weight on their own, the state liquor commission is soon to complete an investigation that could pack some punch. More here from the San Francisco Chronicle...

Latinos stage Castro rally against racism (Rob Akers, 2006)

Charges of racism against Latinos within the LGBT community will be addressed during an "Evening of Protest and Education"... Individuals in the LGBT community, according to Miguel Bustos, a protest organizer, scheduled the event following reports of verbal attacks on gay Latinos... "After the immigrant community started voicing their opposition to the proposed immigration reform, many LGBTQ women and men of color are now being attacked by many within our own community," said Bustos. Bustos said some gay Latino community members have been called "wetbacks" and have been told, "to go back where we came from." "This racist sentiment is not new, but has actually been around for a long time," he said. "Racism, sexism, ageism, and elitism in our LGBTQ community are alive and well."...

Rally Decries Discrimination Amongst Castro Queers (Dennis McMillan, 2006)

As the immigration debate escalates to the headlines, the immigrant community across the nation has been out voicing their opposition to the proposed “Immigrant Reform.” But many may not be aware that queer men and women of color and of immigrant communities say they are now being verbally attacked by some within the LGBT community... Bustos said that this racist sentiment is hardly anything new. “Racism, sexism, ageism, and elitism in our LGBTQ community are alive and well. This is evident in the recent struggle against our black sisters and brothers in the Castro. It can be seen in the lack of support that many ‘minority agencies’, like AGUILAS, gets from the mainstream LGBTQ community.” ... He said that the recent struggle against prejudice against African-Americans in certain Castro bars is only the tip of the iceberg, and that discrimination does not stop there. Bustos brought Supervisor Tom Ammiano to speak. “I think it’s easy for us to take our own community for granted,” he said, “but with George Bush in the White House, we cannot take anything for granted.” Ammiano said, “One of the things the administration is really good at is in dividing communities. We have to say to them, ‘We’re smarter than you, and our queer community is NOT going to be divided!’” ... Ammiano encouraged the queer community to follow suit and put an end to discrimination in the Castro and elsewhere. He introduced Police Commissioner David Campos, a gay Latino man with an immigrant background. “We as LGBT people know firsthand what it means to be discriminated against,” he said. “And discrimination in whatever form—because of race, gender, orientation, or immigration status—at the end of the day is still discrimination, and we cannot tolerate that.”

Discrimination Within: Issues with race create problems in gay culture. (Jessica Feller, 2007)

Sticky rice. Most people associate that phrase with Chinese food. However, within the gay community this phrase has an entirely different connotation. Walking down Castro Street on any given day, one would think that all is well within the gay population; that there is a sense of unity. However, to the trained eye it becomes apparent that this seemingly unified group is actually torn at the seams. “There is so much criticism within the gay community,” says Tiffany Iseman. “We are more critical of each other than outsiders are of us, especially when it comes to Asian male couples.” Iseman explains that there are different levels of stereotypes and racism within the gay community, specifically toward Asian couples and gay Asian men. “Asian couples are called sticky rice, which isn’t as degrading as rice queens, which are Asian drag queens or transgender Asian men,” says Iseman. “Then there are slang phrases for gay men who go after Asian men. But the most widely criticized group within the gay community is Asian men who don’t speak English very well.”

Rainbow Nation? (Documentary, 2006)

Our documentary "Rainbow Nation?" explores the perception of Asian men within the gay community. In American culture, sexual stereotyping of Asians, particularly women, is common. The impact of these biases has been studied in the context of heterosexual relationships. We wanted to understand how these perceptions are transposed when examined within the gay community. Thus, we conducted one long-form interview and several "street surveys" in the Castro district, where a large percentage of San Francisco's gay community lives and spends time. We discovered that stereotypical notions of femininity carry across from heterosexual to homosexual relationships. Asians are perceived as submissive and effeminate, with hairless bodies and smaller sexual organs. Even among the Asians we interviewed, there appeared to be a greater desire to partner with non-Asian ethnicities. On the other hand, we also met an Asian man with an Asian partner and we met other Asian/Non-Asian partners. As filmmakers, we were heartened that the central subject of our documentary was inspired by the documentary to reconsider his attitude towards Asian men. We hope that dialogues about stereotypes and other prejudices will create an environment for further conversations that lead to more tolerant social attitudes.

Queer in SF, Asian in SF Is Easy. Queer Asian? Not So Much (Efren Bose, 2006)

For those of us who identify as queer Asian men, San Francisco should be a welcoming place. It’s the only city in the mainland United States where the largest ethnic group is Asian and where you’re able to see a lot of out, happy, queer Asians walking around, not just in the gay neighborhoods, but in many of our ethnic neighborhoods like the Mission, the Sunset, the Tenderloin, the Richmond and Chinatown. And yet, for many of us, the city also represents everything that’s wrong with these communities. Faced with racism in the Castro, many of us try to deny our Asianness with perfect, smooth, gym-toned bodies or native-sounding accents, or the insistence that racism doesn’t happen in the Castro, as some Asians have claimed. We pretend we don’t get pissed off when we see someone either seeking us out or rejecting us simply because of our different skin colors, our accents, our inscrutable customs and our supposed long history of anti-queer behavior... While San Francisco is great for being a queer man and for being Asian, is it really all that great being a queer Asian man? Sure, there are a lot of us here in the city, but we’re all spread out and all so different. A lot of us don’t live in the Castro, either... Many of my friends who are queer Asian men have told me stories about how they’ve tried to join one social group or another but ended up being rejected because they either didn’t date the required group (Asian men or otherwise), or that they didn’t fit the profile that this group was looking for and were silently but forcefully removed from it. They are often forced to create their own communities outside established social circles, which ends up being a more liberating experience anyway. When I started going out with my partner I was surprised with the odd stares we got from other Asian men in the Castro. Most of them had white boyfriends. I’m Filipino and my partner is Chinese. Many people were confused to see two Asian men as a couple. A lot of the white men tended to look at us with lust in their eyes, reminding me of the crude comments that straight men make when they see two lesbians together... I wonder about other people out there, people who are trying to fit in, who jump from one place to another, trying to find a community that will accept them. And I wish I could say that those of us who are queer Asian men don’t need to do that, that our community is really all around us. But I can’t. And I’d really like to change that.

The San Francisco Gay Men’s Community Initiative (SFGMCI):

SFGMCI is a socially activist organization of San Francisco queer men. We are helping to bring the many different communities of gay men (especially men who have a disconnect with other gay men or need some new ways to enjoy other men’s company) together in an effort to create a more caring, more responsible, more interesting, more diverse, more sexy and fun gay men’s San Francisco... SFGMCI grew out of what many different types of gay men were saying they felt about the gay community, what we as a group of gay men were lacking and what we as a community needed to do to achieve a vibrant and more caring community. Most people believed that before we could begin building something unified, each respective group of gay men had to deal with their own ‘stuff’. The gay men we spoke to felt that once each group started coming together to define and act upon their own issues, needs, and desires, all groups could come together and begin working towards our common issues, concerns, desires and visions as a whole community. Responding to these needs, SFGMCI initially spearheaded a number of active culturally specific community groups and projects; ‘Brothas SF’ for Black gay men, ‘Destino Comunitario’ for Latino gay men, SF Men of Experience’ for older gay men 50 and above, and 'Reality Now' a new group for the younger queer men 25 and under. These groups initiated events and ongoing activities that began to meet the specific desires, needs and interests of these different groups (i.e., a new Latino Gay Men’s Pride parade and event, a Latino men’s newsletter, Brotha’s Think Tank, Generations – a 20’s to 80’s Salon, Family Sunday Suppers, and events focusing on racism in the gay men’s community and internalized racism within the Black gay men’s community). SFGMCI is now working in partnership with individuals and organizations to help bring the diversified segments of the community together. Our partners have included the LGBT Center, Safesexcity.com, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Radical Faeries, ThrivingSF, and NEXUS. See the page 'For All Men' and the Calendar to see some of our onging activities.

Homomade Racism

Black Men: Sexually dominant, dangerous, unintelligent, hypersexual, huge dicks, tops, thugs, low class, diseased, black pudding
Asian Men: Sexually submissive, subservient, smart, naïve, non-threatening, exotic, bottoms, androgynous, foreign, rice (men who like Asian men: rice queens; Asian men who like white guys: potato queens)
Latin Men: Sexual, sensual, diseased, exotic, unintelligent, illegal, low class, bean queen, maricon
White Men: Normal, upper class, acceptable, ideal, average, devoid of culture, prejudiced

Teunis, Niels (2003) . Racism in the San Francisco gay community: An experimental ethnography to create new visibility to an old problem. Word Download. Related Information.

This paper will describe the outcome of an experimental ethnography of a theater production that attempts to investigate the non-verbal, physical expressions of racism in the San Francisco Gay Community by means of theatrical techniques... Racism in the gay community has in itself been documented by several essayists, film makers and fiction writers. These document the experiences of men of color with racism in the gay community and provide an immediate reference point for other men of color. These records are on the other hand difficult to access for men who do not share these experiences, white men in particular, so that they provide little reference for self-reflection of these men. One major hindrance to recognition across racial lines is the fact that so much racism is expressed in subtle non-verbal ways that are nevertheless unmistakable to those on the receiving end. Overt verbal expressions of racism are a rarity in modern day San Francisco. But the question is how to effectively and convincingly demonstrate what the effects of subtle or not so subtle non-verbal expressions of racism are. That is the reason why this theater project has been organized.

Teunis, Niels (2007). Sexual objectification and the construction of whiteness in the gay male community. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 9(3): 263–275. Abstract.

This paper presents interview data and media analysis on the gay male community in the USA. It describes how sexual objectification is more than the outcome of racism in the gay male community. Sexual objectification of gay men of colour in the USA produces a white sexual community. Ideologies of inclusivity and non-discrimination blind white gay men to the harmful effects of sexual objectification... This paper reports interview data with 14 gay men of colour, an analysis of magazine publications, and participation in the gay community of San Francisco by an active member... Here is the paradox: often the top position of black men is explained in terms of the white men’s perception of power, including the sexual power of black men. The black men are seen as powerful, dangerous even, supported by ‘images of the hypersexual ‘‘savage’’ or the threatening, marauding ‘‘buck’’’ (Mercer 1994: 149). I think, however, that when black and white men come together sexually, the above stories indicate that the power of the relationship lies fully with the white man. As a bottom, white men are being served, and as a top they can become racially abusive. Putting black men in the top position may refer to their presumed sexual power, but ultimately it is intended to make sure that the power stays in the hands of the privileged... To summarize, white men maintain a position of privilege and superiority in their sexual interactions with African American men. They expect to be served sexually, or when they are in the top position, they become racially abusive. Too many African American men report that they will have sex with white men who then don’t want to interact with them any more after they have had sex, and in fact try to make sure that their white friends don’t know that they are having sex with African American men... In the expectation of specific sex roles, these interaction show that even in longer term relationships such as the one Howard speaks about very specific roles are played that do not consider the actual sexual desires of the African American men... The power relations between white men and African American men that are present in the larger society as well as in the gay community of San Francisco are reflected in the sexual relations between these men... Seen as an expression of private desire, the white men in these relationships are able to maintain their privileged position that caters to their needs, not the needs of their partners. Sexual objectification further constitutes the unequal expression of sexual desire, as it reflects the white normalcy of a gay community that is fighting for sexual freedom. However, that freedom of sexual expression remains limited to those members who are white.

Latinos stage Castro rally against racism (Rob Akers, 2006)

Charges of racism against Latinos within the LGBT community will be addressed during an "Evening of Protest and Education"... Individuals in the LGBT community, according to Miguel Bustos, a protest organizer, scheduled the event following reports of verbal attacks on gay Latinos... "After the immigrant community started voicing their opposition to the proposed immigration reform, many LGBTQ women and men of color are now being attacked by many within our own community," said Bustos. Bustos said some gay Latino community members have been called "wetbacks" and have been told, "to go back where we came from." "This racist sentiment is not new, but has actually been around for a long time," he said. "Racism, sexism, ageism, and elitism in our LGBTQ community are alive and well."...

Ramirez-Valles, Jesus (2007). The Quest for Effective HIV-Prevention Interventions for Latino Gay Men. Amercian Journal of Preventative Medicine, 32(4S): S34-5. PDF N/A. Google Cache.

But the most important reason for such a vacuum in the field is the racial system that largely defines the allocation of resources as well as our professional and personal lives. Latino researchers are more likely to be interested in working with Latino gay men and to have the skills to work with this population than, say, white male researchers. However, Latino investigators have had limited access to the main funding agencies — the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Testing the effectiveness of HIV-prevention interventions, like the ones described in this article, requires substantial financial nd intellectual resources. The type of funding needed for such interventions is usually provided only by agencies such as the NIH and CDC. Our means to prepare qualified investigators (e.g., doctoral and post-doctoral training programs) and to compete for funding still do not provide open access. Over the last 2 decades, there have been only a handful of investigators doing research on HIV among Latino gay men. Most of these investigators are Latinos and have been working in tremendous isolation... Our racial system also affects the quality and type of HIV-prevention research in other ways. Gay male populations across the country are segregated by race. Latino and white gay men do not live in the same neighborhoods and generally do not socialize in the same venues, despite the fact that it is not uncommon for them to form sexual and romantic connections. Hence, the participation of Latino gay men in major HIV-prevention interventions is very low. Moreover, those interventions have been, implicitly or explicitly, created for white gay men. Investigators’ efforts to reach out to Latino gay men (or any other minority group) are initiated only as an afterthought.

Ramirez-Valles J (2007). “I Don’t Fit Anywhere”: How Race and Sexuality Shape Latino Gay and Bisexual Men’s Health. In: Ilan H. Meyer and Mary E. Northridge, Eds. The Health of Sexual Minorities: Public Health Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Populations. New York: Springer. Springer Preview Page.

The White Gay Ghetto Humberto, one of the activists in the aforementioned study by Ramirez-Valles (2005b), reported that he never felt discriminated against because of his physical appearance until he moved to San Francisco and began visiting gay bars. “There’s really, really a lot of racism.” He noted, “But it’s not directed at you that much. But you feel it. Here, it’s thrown at you.” Forty-seven year-old Humberto was born in the United States and raised in California. He speaks sharply of the rejection and alienation he has experienced in mainstream gay circles because he is not perceived as Caucasian. His experience is not unique. Many of these activists speak of the racial discrimination and segregation that exists in bars, clubs, and organizations in the Bay Area, Chicago, New York, Miami, Washington, DC, and other large cities in the country. The racism experienced by the Latino GBT activists is not always explicit or overt, such as with insults and segregation. It frequently takes place in an implicit manner. “You feel it,” Humberto noted. It is perceived in the atmosphere created by the dominant presence of White men, the little interaction between White men and the few non-White men, and, in the words of Isidro, an activist, by the “body and gym culture.” Humberto also recounted the most palpable forms of stigmatization that he experienced in gay bars, such as being ignored and hearing racial derogatory comments... Social class thus intensifies the racial segregation in gay communities. Race and social class converge to form, in the eyes and realities of these GBTs, a gay culture that is White and middle class. The stigmatization emerging from such gay culture toward those of colored skin and broken English has isolated and alienated many of these activists. Yet, they participate in the dominant gay culture, and in some instances they employ the widespread racialized views of Latinos to their own advantage.

Retzloff, Tim (2007). Eliding trans Latin o/a queer experience in U.S. LGBT history: José Sarria and Sylvia Rivera reexamined. Centro Journal, 19(1): 140-161. PDF.

Sylvia Rivera, in comparison, was very much of the predominant queer Latino/a communities of the Big Apple. While no full-length historical study has yet been done on queer Latino/a New York, urban planner Luis Aponte-Parés. solo and together with the artist Jorge Merced, has begun to fill the void. Aponte-Parés observes that the gay movement of the 1970s corresponded with a renaissance of local Chicano, Puerto Rican, and other Latino/a consciousness, a consciousness that itself excluded any formulation of Latino/a gayness. Circular migrations, the rise of New York-based Latino/a identities, the stigmatization of maricones, exclusion from white queer spaces like Chelsea and the Village, and the displacement of Latino/a communities by gentrification all drove the creation of distinctive queer spaces within the Latino/a neighborhoods of Woodside, Washington heights, the South Bronx, and Jackson Heights. As Aponte-Parés notes, rising militancy gave rise to such groups as Comité Homosexual Latino Americano, Latinos y Latinas de Ambiente, the Colombian Lesbian and Gay Organization, and Mano a Mano. From their new Latino/a queerscapes in New York, queers from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Central America, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere in Latin America have intended to make their presence known. Aponte-Parés asserts, “Latino queers have begun to challenge queer institutions. They also aim to be coproducers of a queer imaginary and appropriate places of queer culture, thus Latinizing queer culture. They also claim a role in the coproduction of a Latino imaginary.”
In contrast to how Sarria has been excluded from the Latino/a queer memory of San Francisco while wrapped into the white LGBT narrative, Aponte-Parés and Merced herald Sylvia Rivera, rejected by some white gay activists, as an important Latino/a forebear. Rivera’s expulsion from the white LGBT movement and resultant narrative is seen as emblematic of queer Latino/a exclusion perpetuated by
white gay racism and sexism. “Puerto Ricans remained out-siders, observers, and denied a place at the gay table, and thus they were excluded from full partnership in the institutional development of the lesbian and gay movement,” ApontePares and Merced write. Not only that, they see much of the U.S. LGBT movement, constructed upon “privileged status,” as aimed at simple reform of society such that white LGBT privilege would be maintained — at the expense of outcast transgender queers, impoverished queers, and queers of color. Rivera’s life reflects the oppositional struggle in New York between militant Latino/a queer activism and a whitebread LGBT politics seeking status within mainstream America.

Perspectiva Latina: Unite for equality for all, not the few, and mean it! (Wilfred Labiosa, 2008)

As a gay man, I'm astonished about the indifference, hatred, and "uneducation" of GLBT individuals. I have noticed how GLBT individuals have stopped caring for other issues after we gained the right to marriage. What ever happened to transgender rights, or GLBT immigrant rights? Can these be added to the GLBT community "agenda"? I have not seen the enthusiasm and energy for these issues as that noted during the intense struggle of marriage equality. These two issues should have the same intensity and we should continue the dialogue on the racism, and homophobia existent in our community.

Exploring queer racism, Chicano homophobia (Margherita Ghiselli, 2003)

Many consider being Chicano in the United States difficult and being queer even more so. But to be both is often thought to be impossible... But when a person is both queer and Chicano, according to Morrison, the situation becomes even more complex and unsettling. "We get all the racism problems without a community, and this is a major issue that needs to be addressed," Morrison said. Morrison then characterized the Latino community as having strong religious beliefs and gender roles that are said to be linked to homophobia in many instances. She also accused the queer community of racism by identifying only with white gay males and ignoring other ethnic groups. Many feel that these oppositions make being a queer Chicano, or any identity that is not a white male, even harder...

Díaz RM, Ayala G, Bein E, Henne J, Marin BV (2001). The impact of homophobia, poverty, and racism on the mental health of gay and bisexual Latino men: findings from 3 US cities. American Journal of Public Health, 91(6): 927-32. Abstract. Full Text Download. PDF Download.

Many men reported experiences of racism in the context of gay community and sexual activity, and 26% reported discomfort in spaces primarily attended by White gays. A majority of the respondents (62%) reported having been sexually objectified owing to their race or ethnicity.

Diaz RM, Ayala G (2001). Social discrimination and health: The case of Latino gay men and HIV risk. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Downlaod Page. PDF Download.

Racism: Similarly, men reported multiple instances of discrimination, verbal and physical violence, police harassment, and decreased sexual and social opportunities on account of their being Latino, immigrant, and/or of a darker skin color. A great deal of racism was experienced in the gay community and at gay venues, where men reported not feeling at ease, not feeling welcomed, and some even reported being “escorted out” of venues on account of their different looks, color, or accent. Some men felt sexually objectified by white boyfriends and lovers, who stereotypically paid more attention to their skin color or Spanish accents than to their true selves. These men felt invisible, that they were just being used as fantasy material, rather than being a part of a more authentic and equitable relationship. Many others encountered overt racist rejection in the context of sexual and lover relations.

Understanding Latino Gay Men and their HIV-related concerns when planning and implementing DEBI and other HIV prevention programs (By Rafael M. Díaz, et al., PPT Presentation, 2003). Related: Welcome to the Acción Mutua web-seminar on Understanding Latino Gay Men and their HIV-related Concerns: PPT. HIV Stigmatization and Mental Health Outcomes in Latino Gay Men. PPT in PDF.

Vanderbilt, Brad A (2007). Inter-cultural collaboration for health promotion among gay Latino immigrants. APHA Scientific Session. Available for download: Audio (mp3) recording. Slides (pdf) or Handout. Multimedia recording.

Marks, Robert (2000). Editorial: Institutionalized Risk. Focus: A guide to AIDS research and counselling, 135(7): 2. PDF.

Twenty-six percent have experienced discomfort in White gay spaces” because of their ethnicity, and 22 percent have experienced racially related police harassment. The majority (62 percent) have experienced racism in the form of sexual objectification by other gay men: these men reported that their sexual partners were more interested in their accents, their skin color, and their ethnic appearance than in their personalities or who they truly were as individuals.

Once in the United States, many gay Latinos face new problems, such as racism, alienation, and sexual objectification, says Diaz, adding that 80% of the men he surveyed reported bouts of depression, 44% suffered anxiety, and 17% had thoughts of suicide. "The gay community isn't very hospitable to immigrants, who come into a world of sex and drugs but don't have the same access and connections" as other gays, says Diaz. "Too many Latin gays feel excluded from the more participatory aspects of the larger community." Raul Aguilar, 30, who moved to the United States from Mexico City in 1985, has had to confront racism from straight and gay U.S. natives... When he came out, Aguilar says, "some folks in the commumty at large ignored me or just saw me as an exotic fuck. I was called `stupid' because I have an accent. I have been the only gay Latino in a roomful of gay white men on many occasions. I felt I had to work really hard to make the `scene' my own."

March 27, 1998 -- When performance artist Luis Alfaro talks about his life's calling... Alfaro has conducted drama workshops with gang members in his native Los Angeles and commissioned dramas for the tony Mark Taper Forum... As a gay Chicano, his work addresses homophobia in the Latino community and racism in the gay community. But labels and issue-speak aside, Alfaro is really a poet of the people.

Largely ignored by conventional studies and services that are often the result of such reports, Latino gay men have long depended on each other for emotional support and advice.

A new study, however, promises hope for this underserved group. Dr. Rafael Díaz, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco, recently completed a comprehensive qualitative and quantitative study dealing with the issues of racism, suicide and abuse among gay Latinos. ...surveyed a representative sample of 912 gay Latino men. Three major ethnic subgroups were chosen: Mexicans in Los Angeles, Cubans in Miami and Puerto Ricans in New York. “The study was specifically designed to target oppression among gay Latino men,” said Díaz. “It was designed to study the impact of oppression. Approximately one-fifth of gay and bisexual Latino men reported thoughts of suicide at least once within the last six months; Los Angeles had the highest rate of suicide ideation. The study also found a high correlation between suicide and poverty. "The impact of racism, homophobia and risky behavior are really good factors in determining suicide rates. I was surprised that 62 percent of the men felt sexually objectified. I was saddened by the fact that the men who wanted to commit suicide were the ones who had dealt with the most homophobia.

These kids are running away from their home or committing suicide. That’s why organizations to help Latino gay youth are so important... When you’re Latino, your not only facing homophobia, you're often facing racism. Also, most services are for gay white youth, they don’t think about Latinos.

Gay Latinos Find a Place to Be Both (Art Marroquin, 1999)

Gay Latinos from throughout Southern California gather at the 17-month-old center on Beverly Boulevard for cultural events, group counseling or socializing. Its founders say it is the only gay and lesbian community center in the nation that specifically serves the Latino community. “I wanted to give gay and lesbian Latino role models to young people, to give them a safe place to turn to,” said Victor Sanchez, La Casa’s youth programs director... To many, La Casa is a comfort zone outside mostly white West Hollywood, where many gay and lesbian Latinos say they have encountered racism. “I am not comfortable in West Hollywood because of the exotic or erotic role Latinos take on in many white men’s eyes, and because of the blatant racism and racial slurs I have experienced there,” said Sanchez, 25, of Whittier. “Being gay is not enough to dissolve racial barriers.” Gay Latino men face homophobia and racism. Latina lesbians say they deal with those issues topped with sexism.

On the other side, Latino/a queers also suffer from the racism of the white queer community. For example, Juanita Ramos, a Latina lesbian writer and activist, writes that “Latino . . . people [are] reluctant to work in lesbian and gay organizations because of the racism and class oppression they had confronted whenever they tried to participate in decision-making.”[78] One Latino queer wrote “I hate the Castro, I can’t stand it . . . . Financially well-off white, it is so closed!!! If you are male and white yes there is a gay community.”[79] Indeed, Rafael M. Díaz has written about the Latino/a queer experience as “social alienation, of not belonging to either the Latino or the gay community” and as the “triple oppression” of being “poor, brown, and gay.”[80] One significant way in which queer Latino/a history has been erased by the white queer community is that few recognize that the Stonewall riots for queer liberation in 1969 was started, in large part, by Sylvia Rivera, a queer Latina drag queen. Rivera left the gay movement in 1973, due to opposition over her right to speak at Gay Pride Day that year.[81] Once again, the queer Christ of color is present in the synarchical oppression of the maricón and the compañera.

Is My Boyfriend Racist?! (Joel Perry, 2007)

I’m an Asian man having a relationship with a white man. I’m versatile, and one day I asked him to let me top him. He said, “I only let black men do that. I always top Asians.” He also really likes to wear his T-shirt that says: “My wiener is bigger in Japan.” Is he racist? Should I break up with him?... “Racist” is just another word for “trapped in a really stupid, limiting world view.” And, honey, yours is trapped. So, yeah, your boyfriend’s a sad, racist mess. But the big reason to look for another man is the arrogant way he treats you. You expressed your desires, and got rejected out of hand...

AskFannie: Wet napkin? Side of Rice? (2007)

Just from my own experience and talking about attraction with friends, it's very interesting to see the ways that which nonwhites get compartmentalized. Asian men get written off because all of us obviously have small cocks, an incessant need to please, and essentially feminine/infantile (read: asexual). Black men often get the other side of the coin, being cast as paragons of male sexuality: huge cocks, hyper-masculine, and unhinged, wild (read: savage/primitive) sexuality. But in that same respect black men often complain about being only seen as sexual beings, and non-intellectual. White guys, conveniently get love for their looks and their shining personalities. Obviously there are problems with this discourse. A) It homogenizes entire classes of people, B) Its overwhelmingly totalizing (thanks for trying second-wave feminism, thanks…), and C) it just sucks... So GAMs are faced with a paradox: sexual racism causes many men to exclude them from their sexual and romantic connections, and those men who do want to sleep with them stand the risk of being rice queens, negating any validity in the relationship that operates outside any kind of sexual fetish context. EASY, it sounds like you've fallen into the rice queen paradox: Trapped between a racist and a fetishist. Here's my stance on the whole situation. Sexual racism is a reality that gay Asian men have to live with on a daily level (although it is definitely prevalent in other communities as well). Rice queens, on the other hand, have the luxury of being able to choose their desired partner, which is not always the case for gaysians. So, when you seek a rice queen for his attention, both public and intimate, no harm is being done… really. You get your rocks off and that ego boost that comes from being wanted. He gets his rocks off, satisfying his particular fetish for Asian guys. You only have to watch out for the seeds of a racist relationship...

Operario D (2003). Asian Pacific Islander MSM: Social Context of HIV Risk. Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California, San Francisco. Conference Presentation. PDF Download.

The gay community to me is White. That’s all we see on the media, that’s all we see on TV…It’s all White and I don’t identify with that. I do remember the first time I went to the Castro, I did notice that a large proportion of the people that I saw there were Caucasian…There was a certain code of dressing, code of looking, and that’s what I thought, “Oh, so that’s what being gay is.” ... I feel like when I was in a relationship with a White male I was looked down upon. I felt I was like more of an accessory to a wardrobe than a person. I still see that when I go to clubs and stuff, that White men will pick up on all these little Asian guys, and they all treat them like symbols ore mere possessions than anything. When I first came out I got the impression that I was more like a sex object for most of the Caucasian men, because I just keep on hearing that White men love little Asian boys and stuff like that... I never felt like I was an equal when I dated Caucasian men. I was always subservient, quiet, shy, you know…and I just followed the guy around and I did whatever. I played the role, I lived up to that stereotype...

Han C-s, Proctor K, Choi K-H (2007). Margins Upon Margins: Managing the Stigma of Race and Sexuality. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, New York City. Full Text.

In this paper, we examine the various ways that gay Asian men attempt to minimize potential discrimination through active stigma management. As such, we not only examine how gay Asian men respond to social discrimination but also address how they attempt to make their stigmatized status less salient in any given interaction. In addition, we address how gay Asian men actively attempt to reconceptualize what it means to be gay and Asian in order to change their status from a stigmatized one to a non-stigmatized one. In examining the existing literature on stigma management, Siegel and her colleagues (1998) point out that the majority of work has tended to focus on the defensive strategies employed by stigmatized group in an attempt to minimize their stigmatized statuses. In their work, they echo Anspach’s (1979: 767) earlier criticism of the deviance literature for portraying those who are labeled as “deviant as powerless, passive and relatively uninvolved in the labeling process.” ... During the interviews, it became obvious that gay Asian men were well aware of their stigmatized status both within the Asian community and the larger gay community. According to one informant: You’re not looked upon much… If you are Asian in San Diego, it’s hard to find someone because you get overlooked because you are not white. It is a thing a lot of my friends see. Some places, we completely avoid. You just know that in some bars, it’s just white guys with white guys. It could become such a huge problem. In talking about his experiences in the gay community, one respondent described an incident at a Gay Pride parade where a gay white man made derogatory comments about Asians. In reflecting on the incident, he noted: I got annoyed and angry because you are expecting me to march down with you, Gay Rights Now, but you can’t even overlook the fact that I am different color… It really annoyed me to know this happens in the gay community. Likewise, informants noted that the stigmatization of homosexuality in the larger Asian community. However, unlike the stigmatization of race in the gay community, informants noted that stigmatization of homosexuals in the larger Asian community had ramifications for their entire family... When I’m trolling on the internet, I usually don’t divulge my race. If I did, I would only get two types of responses. On the one hand, I would get a lot of old rice queens [gay white men who prefer Asian men as sexual partners] or nobody would talk to me...

Han, Chong-suk (2005). Gay Asian-American male seeks home. Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, 12(5): 35–6. Full Text. Full Text.

The situation for gay men of Asian descent in the U.S. has been are intimately tied to the same processes that led non-gay Asian men to be racialized and marginalized by mainstream society. While straight men have been able to function within the growing Asian-American community, gay Asian men continue to be marginalized both by the dominant society and by the Asian communities. If anything, they've been rendered even more invisible by a new cultural formation that stresses "family values" while it perpetuates the image of Asians as "America's model minority"--an image that denies the very existence of gay Asian-Americans. Studies on gender and sexuality have largely ignored racial minorities in their discussions. Given this invisibility, it is not surprising that so little has been written about the process of identity formation for gay Asian men. What is known about gay Asian-American men has come from the small but growing number of literary and artistic works produced by gay Asian men, as well as the literature on HIV/AIDS in the Asian-American community... It is indeed striking how the image of gay white men has been transformed from that of "sissy nelly" to "macho stud" over the past few decades, but no such transformation has occurred where gay API (Asian and Pacific Island) men are concerned. Gay white men are often portrayed as rugged, chiseled studs. But the masculinization of gay white men has been coupled with a feminization of gay API men. When a white man and an API man are presented together in a sexual situation, the former is almost always the sexual dominator while the latter is submissive. For better or worse, many gay Asian men seem to have accepted this stereotype, often participating in their own exotification and playing up their "feminine" allure... Not surprisingly, many gay Asian men report feeling inadequate within the larger gay community that stresses a Eurocentric image of physical beauty... In the absence of a vocabulary to describe their experiences, gay Asian men and women have had to create news words and concepts to define their identity. Within the past few years, a number of gay Asian groups and activists have challenged the Western notions of beauty and questioned the effects of these notions on the gay Asian community. Eric Reyes asks, "which do you really want--rice queen fantasies at your bookstore or freedom rings at the checkout stand of your local Asian market?" In posing this question, Reyes asks us where we should begin to build our home in this place we call America, in the "heterosexual male-dominated America, white gay male-centered Queer America, the marginalized People of Color America, or our often-romanticized Asian America?" It is this continuing attempt to find a gay Asian space that lies at the heart of one group's quest for a place in the American sun.

Drummond, Murray JN (2005). Asian gay men's bodies. Journal of Men's Studies, 13. Full Text.

This paper is based on in-depth interviews with six young Asian gay men. Each provided life historical accounts of their difficulties associated with body identity and masculine identity growing up in masculinised domains. Some have had the opportunity and capacity to identify their sexuality to their parents. However, others have masked their sexuality through masculinised veneers. The men have all been a part of a specific counselling service dedicated to young gay Asian males in South Australia... In terms of positioning their own masculinity within contemporary Western society, the men struggled with the notion of themselves portraying a masculine presence. Indeed, it was their Asian appearance that influenced this cultural perception. This is reinforced by Ayres (1999) as well as Chuang (1999), noting the discrimination toward Asian gay men within Australia's gay culture. The men is this research identified issues relating to feelings associated with being inferior to Australian and European gay men, particularly with respect to bodily aesthetics...

Study of Asian Pacific American LGBT People Reveals High Rates of Discrimination (2005)

Asian Pacific American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are often at the margins, experiencing discrimination in both the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities and the Asian Pacific American communities. The Queer movement must combat racism and the Asian Pacific American community must combat homophobia to create truly inclusive movements for social change... over 80% agreed that APA LGBT people experience racism within the predominantly white LGBT community. The majority of respondents felt that LGBT organizations inadequately address issues of race (58%), class (80%), and disability (79%).

Xu, Mingzhao (2004). The Negotiation of Political Identities: Being Queer and an Asian Pacific Islander. PDF. Prize Essay, University of California, Davis: Download Page.

he Asian Pacific Islander Queer (APIQ) association is a unique subculture on campus that is mainly composed of Asian Americans. It provides a forum and community for queer Asian Americans who face issues that are different from the larger Asian American or Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) communities. Some queer Asian Americans cannot identify wholly with the Asian communities, which may refuse to accept homosexuality, nor can they submerge into the larger LGBT culture, which they may perceive as racist and insensitive toward the needs of Asian American queers... APIQ is significant because it is a haven for the gay and lesbian Asian Americans who believe that racism in mainstream society has filtered into the larger, LGBT culture. The lack of adequate representation of APIQs in the media leads to racists, misperceptions of APIQs, such as stereotyping APIQ males as “exotic” or “emasculated.” ...

The Need for Brandon Lee: Sexual Racism and the Importance of Gay Porn. (S Fong, 2003)

he porn industry has received criticism from feminists and racial activists for what they perceive as the proliferation of stereotypes in the media that is produced. What they are acknowledging is that fact that porn, like any other kind of media, serves to socialize its viewers to gender and racial roles... Pornography is an essential source of socialization for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (lgbt) community. Unable to inherit the cultural capital of their heterosexual predecessors, the lgbt community has looked towards alternative sources, such as gay-centric media, observance of other members of the community, and comradeship with experienced members of the community. For the purposes of this analysis, only the gay male community will be analyzed, and gay pornography will be used as the source of the sample... Most films are created not for their message or positive images, but for the pleasure of the target audience, which in turn would translate into greater revenues for the film studios. Unfortunately, this audience tends to be gay white males... Despite a growing visibility of non-white gay males, the domestic gay porn industry is still very white-male dominated, and the lack of these “watchdogs” have allowed for a disproportionate amount of racial stereotypes. Most of these “ethnic” films, with titles such as Black Power (Catalina Black Gold Series), Cholos in Charge (Catalina Baja Bay Series), and With Sex You Get Eggroll (Catalina Far East Features), are not geared towards the ethnic audiences they seem to be presenting, but to a white male audience that finds pleasure in the propagation of racial stereotypes...

Racism at the Bathhouse (2004)

Now, here is a statistic for you. When I go to the baths I usually go home empty handed, without even one guy having hit or making a pass at me. Ninety five percent of the time, I do not even have an encounter with anyone. Now you are thinking, with the looks I just described, why would I have a problem? Well, I will tell you, I am Asian - Chinese to be exact...

Han C-S (2008). A Qualitative Exploration of the Relationship Between Racism and Unsafe Sex Among Asian Pacific Islander Gay Men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37(5): 827-837. Abstract.

In this article, I develop the argument that racism within the gay community leads to socially and contextually prescribed sexual roles for gay API men that may also contribute to the practice of unsafe sex among this group.

Running With The Bears (Ernie Hsiung, 2007)

So when people told me that I should get a profile on the local classified website bear411.com, saying I would be able to find someone relatively quickly to at least hang out with, I thought, “eh, whatever.” When my application wasn’t accepted the first time, I really thought nothing of it - maybe they’re just behind with their e-mail response times. Then it happened a second time. When it happened a third time, I got pretty irate, but it’s not really my thing to make a big deal about shit like that and maybe he’s just busy or something, and what can I do anyway, since it’s a private site? [Followed by posted commentaries. e.g. Honey, Being gay doesn’t give you an automatic out on the racist thing. Us white folks are raised racist. Gay or Straight, we have to face it and deal with it. Some of us do, some of us don’t, and some of us are unconscious about it altogether. I have been blessed with some very strong and loving and amazing friends who continue to show me my own flaws in a way that lets me see just how subtle and insidious racism is, and help me learn ways to address it in myself, in my other friends . White Men are starting to learn thanks to folks like Tim Wise and others, but it’s a slow process. Thank you for pointing it out and calling us on it.]

In the other part of my life, the gay community, I feel excluded. When I open a gay magazine such as OUT or The Advocate, or watch gay news shows such as "In the Life," all I see depicted are gay white men. I honestly can not relate to them; they grew up in a different culture. I feel the same way when I visit the large gay bookstore, A Different Light. Except for a few anthologies about people of color, I never see any books specifically addressing the issues of queer Asians. If I didn't live in New York City and was exposed to other gay Asians, I would even question if gay Asians even existed. I feel alienated and alone -- I am gay, but I am not represented. Obviously, the voices and faces of my gay Asian brothers are deliberately being ignored.

Gay Asians confront widespread prejudice in the nightclub scene (David Noh, New York Blade News, January 10, 2003)

"New to L.A. and wanna know where I can go clubbing without being harassed by tons of creepy Asians. I went to the Factory and that's all there were. Which is cool, do yr thing, but its not my thing. I am into white/latin/mideast men, i.e., eyelids and real noses. Plz advise."

The above message, posted on a popular circuit party website, is indicative of an undiscussed, but disturbingly prevalent racist attitude in the gay community. Ironically, white friends of mine have become strongly aware of it, having overheard other whites complaining about "too many Asians spoiling a club's atmosphere," along with the requisite "Suzy Wong" and "Miss Saigon" jibes. "Many of my friends have told me they are often ignored at clubs and also in chat rooms," says Lance Collie, a member of Asians and Friends, a social group. "In fact, when an Asian is chatting with a white guy, the white often stops responding when he realizes the other guy is Asian. At the clubs, my Asian friends have been ignored." Los Angeles seems to be a hotbed of such prejudice, with a large Asian population in the suburbs who come into West Hollywood - hardly the most tolerant community, if you're not white, young and buff. But New York is hardly immune. Examples in clubs abound... Internalized racism makes it worse...

"It's hard when you stand at the intersection of race and sexuality," Royce Lin says. Society is no friend of those who in their habits and nature differ from the mainstream... But for Lin, who is the president of the Harvard-Radcliffe Bisexual Gay Lesbian Students' Association, and for all Asian-American gays, the cross borne is doubly heavy: he is rejected by other gays because he is Asian, and by other Asians because he is gay...

Filipino immigrant Joel Tan immigrated to the United States at the age of eight, and has known his demons for most of his life... Beyond his father's intolerance, much of the discrimination Tan must endure, ironically, originates from his fellow gays.... For a community that shares the common affliction of intolerance, gays are themselves, according to Tan, unduly bigoted. "I've heard everything,'' Tan says. "From `I've never dated an Oriental before,' to `you wouldn't be right for the job,' to `you're so exotic.'''

A bisexual, Korean-American and African-American perspective: ...Roddy experiences prejudice from the gay community as well. "Bisexuals are regarded as sellouts,'' he says. Other gays say, `He's just going through a phase, why doesn't he accept reality?''' Thus in many ways the gay community is just as intolerant as society at large - there exists the same pressure to identify with the majority...

Too often, people obsessed with differences between individuals ignore the similarities. The attendant prejudices are central to the plight of the Asian-American gay. Nonetheless, some progress has been made to break down intolerance... "I consider myself to be a part of both the gay and lesbian community as well as the Asian-American community. For me to truly achieve personal happiness I must recognize both parts of myself, and hope that the two communities will acknowledge the difficulties in such a project.''

When gay Asian males are portrayed in the alternative media, their characteristics are often wrought with gross stereotypes. These misperceptions play a major role in how gay Asian American males are perceived, says Alex. The common conceptions of heterosexual Asian men being weak, timid, unassertive, and not masculine likewise apply to gay Asian men. “As in any community, stereotypes thrive. It’s funny—gay or straight, Asian men face the same problems. Certain people may or may not want to date Asian men because of these stereotypes. And these stereotypes can over time contribute to unspoken racism,” he says. Alex details one incident particularly upsetting. During his junior year in college, he dated a white guy for a few weeks before being casually dumped when the relationship was about to get serious. The person’s only excuse: “I don’t date fortune cookies.” “I was completely shocked that he would reduce my whole existence into the equivalent of a cookie. I thought he had more sense than that,” says Alex. “I think the only reason he dated me was because he was intrigued by my ‘exoticness’ and when I didn’t fit the stereotypes he expected, he lost interest.”

...Although Gavinlertvatana believes race-specific groups are a positive inclusion in the gay community, he observes that many people who are involved in these organizations are not involved with the greater gay community as a whole. “That is a sad result, but understandable,” he says. “It is unnecessary, because I feel that an inclusive gay community can coexist with race-specific groups.” He adds: “I think there has been recognition [that there are stereotypes and] racism and that is the first step. The next steps would be to be more inclusive, sensitive, and oriented toward racial minorities.

A broken deal with the organizers of a gay circuit party in Atlanta has left Asian American gay and lesbian community leaders in Atlanta and across the country incensed. n fact, many activists said it's not at all surprising that the Hotlanta River Expo, the organizers of a controversially themed "Year of the Dragon" circuit party, backed out of an agreement it struck a month ago (click here to see our earlier story). "Hotlanta unfortunately is probably just one example of how people of color within the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered community are affected by racism and racial insensitivity," said longtime queer activist and organizer Lisa Chun...

Still, activists like Chun and Hector Vargas, an attorney with the Gay and Lesbian Task Force, have been able to appreciate the attention the Hotlanta controversy has fastened on an oft-overlooked issue--racism within the queer community. "I don't think you can call this an isolated incident," said Vargas. "I think that there are many instances where there is at best racial insensitivity within the queer community. And at worst, outright racism, whether that's intentional or not. "My hope is that we get beyond this specific incident of Hotlanta, and begin to address some of the overarching issues of racism within the gay lesbian bisexual community."

Fight and flight - by Joneil Adriano (New York Blade News N/A, Sept. 4, 1999. (Not available online anymore.) [15]

Last Monday, I had to plead with the membership of ACT UP not to delete from an outreach flyer a reference to people of color being disproportionately affected by HIV. While I was eventually successful, the floor fight left me exasperated and disappointed. Looking at the faces around me, only two of which were not white, I realized that I had been forced, yet again, to justify the need for the group to explicitly address people of color... I left the meeting with the not-so-comfortable realization that had I not objected, the deletion would have passed without any comment. It was one of the few times in my life that I felt decidedly non-white, as opposed to Asian American...

There was a time when I naively believed that marginalized groups have a natural affinity for each other. That didn’t last very long in my short, politicized life. And I’d like to say now that racism in the gay community doesn’t happen in such virulent forms, that racism mostly manifests itself in complex ways compounded by class differences. I’d like to say that most people are sophisticated enough to know that racism is not simply a matter of derogatory stereotypes, but of a whole system of epistemological erasures.

But I can’t say any of those things anymore. Over the weekend I was reminded just how naive I still am. In trying to understand racism from an intellectual perspective, I had forgotten about the thing that makes it such a powerful force in my life; I lost sight of its sheer brutality. And brutality is something that can’t be theorized...

At 24, I already feel too old and tired to be taking the streets in the name of leftist causes. I am sick of constantly having to convince my "allies" that my life is worth fighting for, that all people of color deserve to be mentioned in their discussions, that we merit being placed on their list of priorities.

In the other part of my life, the gay community, I feel excluded. When I open a gay magazine such as OUT or The Advocate, or watch gay news shows such as "In the Life," all I see depicted are gay white men. I honestly can not relate to them; they grew up in a different culture. I feel the same way when I visit the large gay bookstore, A Different Light. Except for a few anthologies about people of color, I never see any books specifically addressing the issues of queer Asians. If I didn't live in West Hollywood and was exposed to other gay Asians, I would even question if gay Asians even existed. I feel alienated and alone - I am gay, but I am not represented. Obviously, the voices and faces of my gay Asian brothers are deliberately being ignored...

While perusing the gay bookstore, I noticed a porn magazine with only Asian male models. However, unlike Caucasian porn magazines, these Asian men obviously appeared to be in their teens with very effeminate bodies. In contrast, most white guys in porn have muscular men. Though some may argue that this is a very trivial detail, one must ask why the difference is consistent each and every time. It is evident that the negative stereotype of the "delicate, submissive slut" is being carried over from the straight "China Doll" model into the gay community. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that all interracial relationships are based on stereotypes. People should love each other for who they are. What I am saying is that when one person expects his partner to play a racist, stereotypical role ("China Doll"), the partner is putting himself at high risk for getting hurt. That is not love, it is disguised racism...

For the [Asian American] subject to operate efficiently as an instrument of white supremacy, he is conditioned to accept and live in a state of euphemized self-contempt. This self-contempt itself is nothing more than the subject’s acceptance of white standards of objectivity, beauty, behavior, and achievement as being morally absolute, and his acknowledgment of the fact that, because he is not white, he can never fully measure up to white standards.[8] ...Silences Within Silences: The suffering that arises out of the above silencing of the Asian American community and the queer community is compounded for queer Asian American people. Not only do we have to face most of the issues that were outlined in Part I above, but we are further silenced at the intersexions of a homophobic Asian American culture and a racist queer culture.

For many queer Asian Americans, [this event] simply reinforced what we have always known -- that the white queer community just doesn’t give a shit about queer Asian Americans and other queers of color.[29] This silence is particularly troubling in light of the ways in which queer Asian Americans have contributed to the modern queer liberation movement... Despite the richness of this queer Asian
American history, much of it has been erased by the white queer community. Indeed, I had never heard of my “ancestors” until I began doing research on queer Asian American history for this essay... In the end, I continue to suffer from my own “self-hate” that arises out of the “limitation of the power and presence of people of color in mainstream gay communities.”[31]

Being Asian and Gay can be construed as ironic. Racism in the gay community is quite obvious. The mass media showers us with images of whiteness as the standard for something that is beautiful. I'd like to believe that my identity as an Asian doesn't hinder me from further exploring my identity as a Gay male... Surely, attraction to someone of the same sex means one is gay--but there has to be a lot more to this so called "gay community" than the churning that takes place between the legs, the music that "we" listen to, the clothes that we wear, the things that we are conditioned to find pleasure in.

"Most of the Asian men that were going to those places were looking for white men, and willing to be subservient, and I just got tired of walking out on people; they would say something stupid and I would just leave." ...As word spread, informal, biweekly meetings gave way to large forums and workshops that tackled issues like coming out to family, the state of Asian political organizing in general, and racism in the gay community. But, members say, the importance of the topics took a second seat to the simple fact of having a venue for discussing issues with a focus on the intersection of gay and Asian identities...

GAPIMNY’s first moment in the limelight of the gay community came when the group, along with sister organization Asian Lesbians on the East Coast, wrote a letter to Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund protesting Lambda’s use of the musical Miss Saigon as a fund-raiser.

The Broadway musical is an adaptation of the opera, Madame Butterfly, set in Saigon at the end stages of the Vietnam War. An American soldier returns — with his American wife — to Vietnam to find the woman whose child he fathered in a brothel during the war. The woman kills herself so that the American couple can leave Saigon with the soldier’s child. Calling the show racist and sexist, GAPIMNY held communitywide forums, and a series of demonstrations that coalesced into the Heat Is On Miss Saigon Coalition. The months-long demonstration highlighted racial rifts in the gay community, and when GAPIMNY members forced their way into the office of Lambda’s executive director, Tom Stoddard, a shouting match ensued...

On the other side, Asian American queers also suffer from racism in the white queer community. Asian American queers are either excluded or fetishized by the dominant culture. One example of this exclusion was the refusal of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund to cancel its annual fundraiser in 1991 at the Broadway musical Miss Saigon, despite numerous protests and sit-ins by Asian American queers over the musical’s “damaging fantasy of submissive ‘Orientals,’ self-erasing women, and asexual, contemptible men.”[85] When several queer Asian American activists disrupted the actual performance, many white queers criticized the activists. One of the activists responded that “when lesbian and gay people of color criticize the white gay male establishment, they are ‘gay-bashing’ . . . . [which] implies that one must be white to be gay.”[86] Asian American queers are also often fetishized by the dominant queer culture. One Asian American queer writer has noted that “[i]n the fantasies of gay, white, male culture, the role of servitude is more often than not assigned to Asian men.”[87] Another writer put it: “At best we’re a quaint specialty for exotic tastes.”[88] Asian American lesbians suffer particularly from the “Lotus Blossom Baby” stereotype of the “passive and compliant” Asian American woman who exists solely “to serve men.”[89] Thus, the queer Christ of color is present in the synarchical oppression of the gay-loh and the Lotus Blossom Baby...

Thus, to communicate coherently about the Asian-American Queer Experience, I would have to possess intimate knowledge of Indian-American queers, Cambodian-American queers, Pakistani-American queers, Thai-American queers, Sri Lankan-American queers, so on and so forth. You understand the complication...

But even the gay community has tiny, hidden rules that sneak up on me. All of a sudden, I discovered that many non-homophobic people are racist. Now, I have experienced overt racism before in my life... The racism I have experienced in the gay community is not the overt color of red but the subtle, unwavering tinge of blue. It is the blue in eyes that forget to see you, that sweep over you during a mainstream GLBT function. It is the default belief that gay America is gay white America. It is the lack of concern for you and your issues. It is the blue color of neglect and ignorance...

The issue of Asian exoticism and eroticism - the so-called "Rice Queen/King" or "Curry Queen/King" exoticism of race, such as newspaper advertising a "Slender, Asian Beauty" - is a dangerous phenomenon. Like discriminating against a person based on the color of skin, exoticism sees only color and culture instead of individuality and personal truth. Exoticism perpetuates racial stereotypes and draws a lock box around the person. And since stereotyping is a wonderful tool for social control (i.e., All gay people have AIDS) exoticism also reflects and
reinforces a hierarchy of power.

In the meantime, cheekily deemed "Potato Queens/Kings," many Asian-American queers vie for white partners. It is a concept that rides on the other side of exoticism and carries a heavy dosage of internalized racism. I am guilty of internalized racism. I have been guilty of feeling grateful when someone displays interest in my skin color. I have been guilty of wanting white so that I could be white...

L. Ramki Ramakrishnan, one of the founders of Trikone-Tejas, says that, "When I asked some of the gay organizations on campus why there weren't more racial minorities at their meetings, they quickly replied that it was because those races were more homophobic and less inclined to speak up." ..."The gay community needs to actively reach out to queer people of color," Ramki says. "They need to include people of color in the planning process and in positions of power so that other minority queers feel welcome and safe."

Not only is race the primary dimension of self-commodification in Hong Kong gay personal ads, but the characteristics offered by and sought from members of particular racial groups reveal a number of prevalent stereotypes and expectations about the roles individuals in inter-racial pairings are meant to assume, stereotypes and expectations that mirror both reports of racism in Western gay communities and the relationships of dominance in Hong Kong’s colonial history.

Western authors seeking Asian partners, for example, tend to be older men looking for younger companionship, and in describing themselves they often use words denoting social, economic or sexual dominance like ‘mature’, ‘caring’, ‘professional’ and ‘well-endowed’. In their descriptions of their Asian targets, on the other hand, they are more likely to use words denoting dependence or passivity such as ‘slim’, ‘young’ and ‘boy’:...

	This Web Page: United States (Part A) - African-American - Latin American - Asian American.
	United States (Part 2) - General "Of Color" Issues - Universities / Colleges - The Arts / Films / Books - Initiatives.
	Other Countries - United Kingdom - France - Australia - New Zealand - Canada - South Africa.
	Additions - San Francisco/Castro - Proposition 8, CA - Racism in Cyberspace
	Jackson's "That's What Rice Queens Study." White Racism / Its Negative Effects & Associated Masculinity (or lack of masculinity / effeminacy) Issues.
	Introduction / Contents.