Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Even with a competing marching band and no longer being able to hear the music for the last minute of the routine, these dance-activists were determined to stay on beat and share the message of love and acceptance.

Thank you to all the amazing and inspiring folks who had the courage to dance for what they believe in!

more info:
LGBTQ Asian and Pacific Islanders Dance Their Way Home to Chinatown

San Francisco — Today, just short of 100 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Asian Pacific Islanders (API) and their allies staged a flash mob in the heart of Chinatown. A flash mob is a collective action undertaken by a group of people who assemble in public venues for a brief time and then disperse. Oftentimes, it starts with a few individuals and quickly, seemingly random, incorporates all participants, and then just as quickly wraps up. It can be anything from singing to dancing to simply standing still.

The motley-colored group, adorned in all colors of the rainbow, took over the grounds of Portsmouth Square, the local stomping grounds for San Francisco’s Chinatown residents, and regaled the locals in the square with a lively dance routine peppered with various signs and posters in Chinese, English, and other API languages. Their message was one of love and acceptance.

“Today was about coming home.” said Tawal Panyacosit Jr, Director of API Equality — Northern California. “Many of us grew up in this community. I remember spending my summers in the area with Cameron House. But, since growing up and coming out as Gay or Lesbian or Transgender, many of us don’t feel welcome anymore. The silence and invisibility around this issue is heartbreaking for many of us. Today, through the universal language of song and dance, we wanted to come home as both Gay and Asian.”

While there are over 66,000 APIs who identify as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender in the State of California, according to the Williams Institute, API Equality — Northern California’s polling still shows that the majority of the API community is unaware of this population with APIs demonstrating relatively the lowest levels of familiarity with LGBTQ people, particularly close relations like friends or family.

“Is being Asian about our shared values and culture or is about one’s sexual orientation? I am my mother’s daughter. I believe in respecting my elders, in prioritizing family, and in giving back to society? Just because I am Gay, does that mean I’m not Asian? Why can’t we be both?” expressed Vanessa Coe, Lead Organizer for API Equality — Northern California.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Pelosi are committed to passing the DREAM Act before the end of the lame duck session. As many of you know, the DREAM Act provides an opportunity for undocumented youth to become eligible for legal status by pursuing higher education and/or military service. In order to pass the DREAM Act, we all need to get on the phones and urge our representatives and senators to support the DREAM Act!

We, at Asian Pacific Islander Equality – Northern California , understand how important it is to fight for the DREAM Act. Mario, an undocumented, Chinese Peruvian, and queer student from the University of California, Berkeley, has been an inspiring leader in the fight for the DREAM Act. A few months ago, Mario made a courageous decision. He chose to participate in a nationally televised story about undocumented college students, produced by ABC News Good Morning America. The risk of being identified and deported might have stopped other undocumented students from participating in the story, but Mario is no stranger to difficult choices. After coming from Peru when he was 12 years old, Mario lived apart from his mother and father while attending Oceana High School in Pacifica. He was confronted with many prejudices against homosexuals, especially in his church, but still found ways to embrace his Christian beliefs and homosexuality. Mario graduated as valedictorian of his high school class, and then decided to pursue the rigorous Civil Engineering program at UC Berkeley. He has since been a leader in the LGBTIQ community, participating in activities with the Bay Area Gay Straight Alliance, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Asians & Pacific Islanders, Queer & Questioning, 25 & Under, All Together (AQU25A). He continues to contribute so much to our community, yet has no pathway to citizenship and full equality.

FAST FACTS

Mario is just one of the 1.2 million immigrants who identify as LGBTIQ in the United States.

Undocumented students, particularly those who would qualify under the DREAM Act would be youth who came to the U.S. at the age of 15 or younger. They most likely came to the states with their families without any choice. Their identity as a non-citizen is not something they can “choose.”
Like folks in our community, undocumented students also live with the fear of being outed. They are fearful of being attacked by vigilantes, being deported, and being isolated from their families.

We face hate speech that dehumanizes our communities like, “that’s so gay” and “faggot,” as undocumented students are labeled, “illegal” and “alien.”
Unless we stand together, we will continue to live as second-class citizens, whether because we are denied the right to marry the person we love or the right to full legal and social equality as citizens and contributing members of society. Please join us in taking a stand.

If you cannot attend the phone bank today, Tuesday, please take the time to call your senators and representatives on your own or even host a phone bank at your school or office. If you make calls, please email vanessa coe (vcoe@caasf.org) for resources.

“API Equality–LA and our partner, API Equality–Northern California, applaud the judge’s meticulous and carefully reasoned decision that Proposition 8 violates the basic constitutional rights of lesbian and gay couples,” said Doreena Wong, Co-Chair of API Equality–LA.  “The judge’s conclusions add to the growing consensus in courts and legislatures across the country that no good reasons exist for continuing to exclude same-sex couples from marriage.  Instead, the evidence and legal arguments showed that Proposition 8 harms loving gay and lesbian couple and their families, while helping no one,” added Heidi Li, API Equality–Northern California Steering Committee Member.

Judge Walker’s decision is important to Asian and Pacific Islanders (APIs) in California, where the more than 66,000 APIs who identify as gay or lesbian comprise the largest community of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI) APIs in the United States, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.

“Victories like today’s decision inspire important conversations about the harms of discrimination and the need for equality under law for all people,” said Tawal Panyacosit, Director of API Equality–Northern California.  “But, we cannot rest on our laurels. These critical dialogues must continue, as we must also speak to the many other ways LGBTQI APIs are harmed by injustice, like Shirley Tan and Jay Mercado, a same-sex Filipina couple who face continued threat of separation due to an unfair immigration system. We know from our years of work educating the API community about these issues that it is these discussions within our own communities that changes hearts and minds.”

Added Rev. Dr. Jonipher Kwong, Director of API Equality–LA, “All across the nation, APIs have played an integral role in advancing the right of same-sex couples to marry–as plaintiffs, judges and witnesses in legal cases and as elected and community leaders in the court of public opinion.  APIs personally know the history and impact of marriage discrimination and today, we cheer Judge Walker’s decision as being on the right side of history, where discrimination is overcome by justice and fairness.”

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Media Contacts:

Tawal Panyacosit, Director, API Equality–Northern California – (415) 516-3562

Jonipher Kwong, Director, API Equality–LA – (213) 249-1551

API Equality–Northern California is a coalition of Asian Pacific Islander (API) and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, and Intersex (LGBTQI) organizations and individuals serving Northern California. API Equality–Northern California is dedicated to empowering community members, advancing civil rights protections, and promoting respect and understanding for cultural and community diversity. API Equality–Northern California’s mission is twofold:

• To reduce and eliminate prejudice and oppression based on gender and/or sexual orientation in the diverse ethnic communities of the API populace; and
• To combat and eliminate racial-based or xenophobic prejudice and oppression in the LGBTQI community

API Equality–LA is a coalition of organizations and individuals who are committed to working in the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities in Greater Los Angeles for equal marriage rights and fair treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) families through community education and advocacy.

While we’re hopeful the decision will go in our favor, win or lose, our work is not done. This is only the first hurdle in a longer race towards full equality under the law and full social equality with our families and communities.

Come celebrate or commiserate with our community tomorrow at a March and Rally. People will gather at Harvey Milk Plaza (Castro St. & Market St.) at 5pm then march together to the Civic Center, stopping at LGBT Center along the way, at 6pm. The main rally begins at 6:45pm.

Fingers crossed,
Tawal Panyacosit
Director, API Equality – Northern California

Are you an artist? Activist? Artivist? Would you like to be? If you write, paint, make films, take photos, dance, spit poetry, act, teach, or want to just try–API Equality is seeking participants for a new arts leadership and advocacy program.

Project Q is a new community arts project that seeks to foster the creative and political development of Asian Pacific Islander Queer and Trans leaders to share the trans/queer API experience through creative story-telling and performance.

Over the course of 10 weeks, participants will:
- participate in a series of creative and political education workshops
- develop and participate in a multimedia showcase of visual, literary, and performance art
- help plan to extend the project to take to schools, community organizations, events, etc.

REQUIREMENTS
Participants must be able to attend the weekly workshops on Sunday afternoons from July 18 – Sept 12, with a showcase concluding the program on September 18.

Our first meeting is:

July 18th, from 1-4PM

17 Walter U Lum Place

San Francisco, CA 94612

Participants must self-identify as Asian-Pacific Islander and LGBTQI–lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex.

APPLICATION
To apply please complete this form and email to vcoe@caasf.org

Name, first, last:
Email:
Phone:
Optional but helpful:
Age
Ethnicity (list by bullets)
Sexual Identity (list by bullets)
Gender (list by bullets)

Mandatory questions:
Please answer these questions in 200 words each or less:

1. Why you want to be a part of Project Q?
2. What background or experiences you can bring to this project?
3. What do you hope to gain from participating in Project Q?

For many, 2009 was a year of reflecting, refocusing, and reenergizing.

It was a year of healing, and we are stronger for it.

In 2009, API Equality – NC formed a Steering Committee to inform the strategic priorities of our work with representatives from over ten LGBTQI and API organizations, including API Family Pride, API Legal Outreach, APIQWTC, and GAPA among others, as well as important thinkers and activists in our community like Lia Shigemura & Helen Zia, Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis, Jen-Mei Wu, and Alain Dang, to name a few.

This Steering Committee has helped to reshape the way we at API Equality think and how we approach the problems in the world. From our over 5 years of community building and education experience, we know we must use our time wisely to continue to build support for marriage equality. But, we must also get back to basics to transform those community members and organizations still struggling to understand our issues and our lives. Equally important, we must build a large and diverse coalition. As a result of this reflection, API Equality now sees it work as two mutually reinforcing and necessary objectives:

To reduce and eliminate prejudice and oppression based on gender and/or sexual orientation in the diverse ethnic communities of the API populace; and

To combat and eliminate racial-based and/or xenophobic prejudice and oppression in the LGBTQI community.

What this means in practical terms is that we are now being more intentional about our commitment to intersectional social justice issues; just as many of us span multiple communities and care about multiple issues, so too does API Equality – NC.

As we move forward in 2010, we will continue our core work of community education and visibility by participating in both API and LGBTQI events in the SF Bay Area and have those important 1-on-1 conversations on marriage equality and other important issues. We will continue our message development and media advocacy work so we can identify the best stories and messengers, get them out there, and then hold both the ethnic and mainstream media accountable to fair and equitable reporting practices. Currently, we also have some exciting developments and new collaborations:

Our newly revamped Speaker’s Bureau will focus on helping our current allies become stronger while also introducing newer partners to this work by providing much needed skills and issue trainings.

With the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network, Chinese for Affirmative Action, and the Asian Law Caucus, API Equality will be organizing a series of screenings of the movie, “Papers the Movie: Stories of Undocumented Youth,” with accompanying discussion on the intersections of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the LGBTQI Justice movements.

Whether as a volunteer in the field or in our Speaker’s Bureau, or as a donor or a interested member, we hope you will take the time this year to join us as we take equality into our own hands and move forward together to justice.

In solidarity,

Tawal Panyacosit
Director of API Equality – Northern California

Compensation: DOE, excellent benefits
Hours: Full-time
Location: San Francisco, CA

API Equality is currently seeking a Community Organizer to lead and expand API Equality’s community education, outreach, and campaign efforts in Northern California.

Job Responsibilities:
The Community Organizer’s primary responsibility is to work with API Equality’s coalition and steering committee members to develop educational, outreach, and field campaigns and efforts to increase the capacity of API organizations and individuals to be effective advocates for LGBTQI issues; a natural component of this work also includes bringing greater understanding and awareness of API communities, cultures, and interests to the LGBTQI movement.

Specifically, the Community Organizer will:
• Recruit, train, and motivate volunteers;
• Develop campaigns to mobilize API community members to build capacity and
effectively advocate for LGBTQI rights in their communities;
• Build coalitions and manage relationships with API/ LGBTQI partner organizations;
• Serve as a spokesperson for LGBTQI/API issues and help to develop media resources
and education materials that promote a progressive APA perspective on LGBTQI rights;
• Work closely with CAA’s policy staff to identify and address ongoing needs of LGBTQI
API families and individuals;
• Develop and manage API Equality’s membership and volunteer database; and
• Represent CAA/API Equality at community events and public hearings.

Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree;
• Oral fluency and/or written proficiency in an API language (preferred);
• Experience in organizing around social justice issues (API or LGBTQI issues preferred);
• Demonstrated experience recruiting, motivating, and training teams of volunteers
in collective action to build power;
• Strong drive to achieve measurable progress towards meaningful change;
• Strong oral and written communication skills;
• Excellent organizing and planning skills; and
• Team player.

To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to: Community Organizer Search, CAA, 17 Walter U. Lum Place, San Francisco, CA 94108 or e-mail to employment@caasf.org. CAA is an equal opportunity employer. Women, people of color, and LGBTQ individuals are encouraged to apply.

Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) is a 40-year-old non-profit, member-supported organization advocating on behalf of Asian and Pacific Islanders (API) and other underrepresented communities in San Francisco and statewide. (www.caasf.org).

API Equality, a project of CAA, is the first effort of its kind and the only coalition of organizations and individuals working in the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, and Intersex (LGBTQI) communities of Northern California. API Equality is committed to combating both individualized and institutionalized heterosexism and homophobia in the diverse ethnic communities of Northern California’s API population, while in tandem combating racism and xenophobia in the greater LGBTQI community. (www.apiequality.org)

After last year’s devastating loss on Prop 8, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, and Queer/Questioning community is in danger – including in our Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Intolerance is on the rise, homophobic bullying of children is increasing, as well as incidents of hate crimes, and in state after the state the lives of LGBT people are being subjected to public referendum.

In the Asian and Pacific Islander communities, misinformation and misunderstanding continue to aggravate this situation. The 66,000+ API LGBT people of California cannot afford to wait any longer. We are endangered and we need your help.

We need you to come to a special convening on Saturday, September 19th to help us increase awareness of LGBTIQ justice issues, reduce harmful misinformation in our API communities, and to promote justice issues in all of our communities

WHEN: Saturday, September 19th from 10AM to 1PM
WHERE: San Francisco LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market St., SF
WHAT: API Equality and its allies are calling for a convening of diverse members and representatives of the API LGBT and Allied communities to discuss the issues and strategize together. By the end of the day, we hope to have concrete strategies and opportunities to address these issues in our communities and organizations.

Additionally, any contributions in terms of financial support or in-kind donations would be much appreciated.
If you have any questions, please contact Tawal Panyacosit, Director, API Equality | www.apiequality.org, 415-274-6760 ext. 316; tpanyacosit@caasf.org

Please download and circulate the flyer for the event.