i2i Hosts Literary Sharing Evening

The GLBT Asian and Pacific Islander group in Chicago called i2i held an evening of poetry, narrative and story sharing this past week at a cafe in the Andersonville neighborhood of the city.



Here's a few words recapping the event from one of the organizers, Dwight O.:

I just wanted to thank folks for their delicious participation in STORY OF MY HEART on Sunday! And thanks to my co-presenter Ryan who also helped to bring some new folks out. There was an amazingly diverse group of stories. Some common themes arose including the pervasive influence of the internet on queer dating, and the great diversity of desires that we humans have.

Below are just a few of the highlights from a dozen fascinating stories told. Some people had written out their comments, some talked off the cuff. But the stories were all filled with humor and tenderness and unexpected twists. This made for an entertaining event which shined a bright light on queer asian love and sex in the new millennium. If you weren't there, you missed a good one. Sorry I can't mention each story, but this will give you a taste:

-- Gurl-gurl flirtations on a bus between an Asian woman and an Iraqui woman. Lots of ambiguity and humor came from each woman being clueless about each other's cultures.

-- Real-life confessions of a gogo dancer boy who worked the Gaysian nights at Wilde Pug. Can a relationship based on mere sexual titillation grow into something more?

-- One guy (not the pining romantic type) stumbles onto true love on Match.com. He is puzzled when his boyfriend asks him to move in with him. "Why? I have my own apartment."

-- A woman is unsettled when she awakens to her first attraction to another woman during an otherwise uneventful academic conference.

-- An HIV negative man embarks on his first relationship with an man who is HIV positive. He's surprised to discover that the barriers to their love have nothing to do with HIV status.

-- In the fluid sexuality of the gay male community, the notion of "having an affair" seems almost quaint, borrowed from straight culture. But for one man, that's what it was.

-- "No string attached (NSA)" means sex without expectations, without reciprocation. But sometimes you still get more than you bargained for.

We had 15 attendees in the cozy back room at Winston's which filled us to capacity. People loved the room with its purple walls and inviting atmosphere. Half of the attendees were brand-new or pretty new to i2i, which is great. Some folks who were just coming out commented how inspiring it was to hear so many different experiences. Afterwards people recommended that STORY OF MY HEART be presented on a more regular and frequent basis. So maybe we could do this again in 2011. Watch the listserv. And we'll be posting photos from the event on the website shortly.