The Making of a Gay Asian Community

Book excerpt: In this unique oral history, gay Asian Americans talk frankly about their struggle for self-determination and independence. Despite its size, until recently the gay Asian American community in Los Angeles was fragmented and marginalized as gay Asian men separated into their own ethnic cliques and preferred whites as sexual partners. Using a cultural studies lens to interpret the rich oral narratives he collected, Eric C. Wat shows how a dominant sexual ideology can influence our desires and contradict our memories. By documenting the founding of the first gay Asian organization in Southern California (Asian/Pacific Lesbians and Gays [A/PLG]), Wat powerfully portrays the ways gay Asian men confronted these contradictions publicly and struggled to fashion a coherent identity and community based on both their race and sexuality. His analysis returns gay Asian men to the center of their lives and celebrates the power of individuals working collectively to define their desires and combat injustice.