Light the Way -- March 4

This coming week is the most important one in the efforts to repeal Prop. 8, the ban against same-sex marriage in California. The state Supreme Court will hear arguments on Thursday, March 5. Let's all send positive vibes so that the justices will make the right decision based on equality and not out-dated morality.

A more visible way to send the vibes is a candlelight vigil and march scheduled for the night before, the national Eve of Justice Night. For events scheduled in your area, check the site here.

Malik G.: Silk Road Theater

Malik G. is the executive director of Silk Road Theater, a company devoted to producing work from authors whose ethnicity reflects the countries along the famed Silk Road. These stretch from the Orient through to Italy. Malik recently won a fellowship from the Chicago Community Trust--a reflection of the excellence that is his mantra.

Defining GAM

In many ways, I believe gay, Asian males here in the U.S. have defined ourselves in the reflection of the mainstream--and the lack of positive, powerful role models. And the focus on appearance, dick size and stereotype. Okay, I get it. Many of us have chosen to accept that burden and slog along like it's this thing we're just born into. Okay, I get that.

So, what if it were all gone? All the stereotypes, all the longing to be something else, all the internal struggle that is what being a GAM in America is all about today.

Then who are we?

I'm just asking.

What Abe Lincoln Means to Me

Watching a production of “Alamat,” a play documenting a group of Filipinos brought to the 1930 World’s Fair as “specimens,” for an exhibit of indigenous people, I had a slight aversion to a section of the play where the Filipinos sang a song in the style of negro spirituals. This narrative song, not meant to depict traditional Filipino folk songs, was a contrivance, a way to evoke the oppression experienced by these people who were essentially zoo animals.

After having lead youth esteem-building workshops in Chicago public schools, I have a sense that whatever anyone akins slavery to ought to be pretty substantial. Being brought over to be ogled at for a few weeks does not measure up. So to me, the contrivance was ineffective and to a degree, inappropriate.

So as the nation celebrated the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln's birthday, I’m forced to think, what does the history of the African American people mean to me as a gay, Asian man? Well, I do have an innate kinship to at least the internal sensibility of feeling oppressed, being viewed as less than, or striving to discover inner confidence and beauty. But I have never experienced the kind of oppression seen by slaves or African Americans throughout U.S. history.

What I do connect with is that feeling of being on the outside looking in. And feeling that what’s inside is what I so desperately want.

So therein lies the question. What is it that makes the picture that’s out of my reach so appealing? Is it the idea of equality? I’ve always felt that education would trump anything else, and besides the “good old boy’s” club, which I’ve run into to a degree, my professional career has never suffered. But I think that this idea of “equality” really means wanting to be white. That’s the crux of it. And that’s the internal Achilles’ Heel from which I still need emancipation.

Gay Asian Films on the Horizon

It's no surprise that one of the largest Asian American film festival takes place in San Francisco. In less than a month, the annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival flashes onto the big screen with a variety of films from around the world and several star-studded events including a talk with director Ang Lee.

Among the many films that will be screened at the festival are a few of interest for the LGBT community. Here are two of the more prominent films that feature a gay theme:

"The Love of Siam" is a major film from Thailand that's the first in that country to focus on the love between two teenage boys who find each other again when they get older. Despite its controversial subject matter, the film released in 2007 has had major box office success in Thailand and is the country's official foreign film nomination to the 2009 Academy Awards.

"Fruit Fly" is the followup to director H.P. Mendoza's innovative "Colma: The Musical." This Filipino-American director and screenwriter this time focuses his musical attention up north to the heart of San Francisco, framing his second musical on the adventures of a Filipino woman looking for her natural parents and finding a supportive gay network instead. The film is being touted as an unusual homage to the French classic "Umbrellas of Cherbourg." Um, really? I guess you'll have to see to find out. Here's the official trailer:



If you're in San Francisco from March 12-22, 2009, you might want to check out one of the two films or any of the other Asian-themed films screening at the film festival. Find out where to get tickets here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Triathlon Man

Mikey A. is a Chicago native who decided last year to train and prepare for a triathlon. Here's how he decided to do it, thoughts about his experience and some advice to others. Also, here's a link for video of the swimming portion of the event.

Watch, Then Act

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

For the gay Asian community, we want to be visible and strong supporters of gay causes, and at this moment there's nothing more important in my opinion than the fight for marriage equality, currently being fought in California. It's an issue that affects us directly and the overall LGBT community. In fact, it affects the entire nation as we strive to be a better America.

This is a really cool video from the Courage Campaign called "Don't Divorce ..." and features same-sex couples or friends of same-sex couples saying "don't divorce my friends, etc." It's supposedly a message to the California Supreme Court to invalidate Prop. 8. There's also an online petition for supporters to sign here.

The Supreme Court, of course, isn't going to be swayed by petitions and public sentiment. They're going to rule based on the law, and that's the most we can expect from them. Still, the online petition gives us something to do so that we can feel that we're affecting change. It's hard sitting by waiting for the court to decide, so by signing the online petition, it just demonstrates to the "court of public opinion" how many people are out there who supports us. So please watch the video, and then sign the online petition. (Oh, and don't forget to do it before the deadline ... Valentines Day.)