The Queer Asian American Diaspora - Essay Example

The queer Asian American diaspora consists of many conflicts that render ambiguity to the understanding of two important factors in one’s overall identity, ethnicity and sexuality. Being Asian is unto itself already a source of otherness in the American culture with the attributions of stereotypes and certain prejudices in the predominantly White nation. This is made even more difficult when a person, who already belongs to a minority, is further removed through another difference because of his sexual orientation. Thus, one experiences being a multiple minority because of gender and ethnicity. Not only is one detached from his surrounding and its integral culture but becomes dissociated from his own community that views his sexuality as unacceptable. This is also more evident because of the religion that most Asian societies adhere to. Faiths among Asian culture are observed with conservative religiosity. These factors, among others, make it challenging for the queer Asian American to truly foster a reassured life with himself and his community. An ideal existence where he is comfortable with his multiple identities to co-exist is a challenge to the queer Asian American diaspora. Raja G. Bhattar and Nathaniel A. Victoria, in their article titled Rainbow Rice: A Dialogue between Two Asian American Gay Men in Higher Education and Student Affairs, explores their identity as gay men belonging to Asian communities in the United States and how it has affected their full realization of their sexuality. Further complicating their coming out process is their strong religious backgrounds that had always been part of their identity from childhood. Nathan was brought up in a strictly Catholic background and went to a Catholic school which had never encouraged openly gay students. Raja is in even deeper predicament as he is not only Hindu but his family came from a long line of priests. The discord between homosexuality and religion is not an uncommon theme in sexual identity. But the reality of this struggle becomes pressing when one’s own family consciously urges strict gender adherence. These two men had always had a problem in coming out even to their own family who remain unaccepting and considers their sexuality a matter of choice. Nathan states, “My Catholic religion and my Filipino American cultural identity did not provide the channels I need to express myself” (Bhattar and Victoria 43). This same feeling was shared by Raja who is subject to an even bigger predicament. Indian culture believes strongly in arranged marriages, and my mother has already chosen a bride. This poor woman is now waiting for me to marry her and be her Prince Charming. The problem is, I want my own Prince Charming, too. (Bhattar and Victoria 42). The muddled understanding of South Asian disposition to regard homosexuality as a Western creation is perhaps the distinctive factor that explains why between Nathan and Raja, the latter experiences more persistent complications in relation to his ethnic background. This same idea was recognized by another Indian American LGBT in Jasbir Puar. “The emotional and political imperative to claim India seems linked to a desire to explode the myth of homosexuality as a Western construct, a white disease, and as a foreign import” (411). This archaic idea that had been a dark part of homosexual history remains a strong point of opinion in many Asian communities who refuse to accept varying gender identities. Many Asian cultures still view homosexuality as a choice and that it is an affliction that can be cured. This is similarly shown in Asian Catholic culture where some opine that since homosexuality is a matter of choice, choosing to be queer is a sin (Bhattar and Victoria). The lack of a queer Asian American model also contributes to the propagation of stereotypes even within the gay community. The development of the Asian American homosexual’s identity had always been in association to the acceptable categorization of the White gay man. Queer people of color or QPOCs are often subconsciously attracted to White men in their choice of partner who often feminize them and regard them in terms of their ‘rice queen’ fetishism (Bhattar and Victoria 45-46). In general, gender is not a topic of discussion among Asian families. The conservative upbringing of most minorities from distant ethnic backgrounds often keeps silent when the topic of gender identity comes up. This is especially true when immediate members of the family identify outside the norms of common gender identities. But the manifest westernization of the Asian American LGBT who has become accustomed to concepts of freedom and ‘coming out,’ creates an anxiety to the family who would rather keep this in the closet. “The Asian American’s decision to come out transgresses the silence surrounding sexuality in Asian families, making tangible the taboo topic of homosexuality” (Xu n.p.). Parents find it impossible to accept homosexuality within the family because they give more substance to the perception of having a perfect family and acceptance within the community. A gay son or a lesbian daughter does not fit in their parents’ grasp of the normal and functioning family according to what had always been traditionally in place. Further, the necessity for their children to have a family and children of their own do not comprehend the alternative framework of today’s modern families. But more than the problems of the queer Asian American in their family and community relations, the effects of his ethnic minority can also be perceived within the LGBT community. In a study by the National Gay and Lesbian Task force of 860 Asian and Pacific Islander (API) American respondents included in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) society, they found that more women and transgender experience discrimination or harassment than men. Those surveyed reveal that only 14% of men had experiences unlike the 73% in women and 75% in transgender in reference to their gender or sex (Dang and Vianney 38). When asked to assess between ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’ on the question “LGBT APIs experience racism/ethnic insensitivity within the white LGBT community,” 78% agreed, 36% strongly agreed, and 9% did not agree (Dang and Vianney 44). This shows that even among the LGBTs, ethnicity plays a factor in discrimination. This model of the superiority of the White homosexual over the queer Asian American is also a topic in their relations. In Bordieu’s conceptualization of habitus, he defines it as “the system of durable and transposable dispositions through which we perceive, judge, and act in the world” (qtd. in Daroya 2). David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly shows the racial castration of Asian American gay men in contrast to their White male counterpart. Daroya explains that this feminization of the Asian gay man is an effect of Orientalism with reference to Edward Said’s discourse. Asian gay men are regarded as passive while White gay men are dominant. The absence of any acceptable role model especially in the media allows for the dissemination of notions of the submissive Asian LGBT that is subject to the ascendancy of their partners. This creates a concept of inferiority on the queer Asian American. “As I internalized the belief that queer people of color (QPOCs) are inferior to gay White men, I unconsciously believed I needed to date a White man to become “full” (Bhattar and Victoria 45). But this can be overcome starting with breaking one’s own subconscious prejudices. The queer Asian American is faced with the actual struggles that encompass his ethnicity and sexual identity. Immediately, he is faced with the fact that he is a minority in both respects. The often unaccepting disposition of his family and community with respect to his ethnic background creates a difficulty where he faces the choice between keeping in the closet his sexuality for the comfort of others or to revel in his sexual identity consistent with his notions of freedom. Further, the factor of discrimination within the LGBT community again reminds of being a multiple minority. Even in this regard, preconceptions do appear that can only aggravate than liberate his multiple identities. These are just some of the challenges to the queer Asian American diaspora that continues to develop and stimulate conversations. Works Cited Bhattar, Raja G., and Nathaniel A. Victoria. “Rainbow Rice: A Dialogue between Two Asian American Gay Men in Higher Education and Student Affairs.” The Vermont Connection 28 (2007): 39-50. Web. 2 December 2014. Dang, Alain, and Cabrini Vianney. Living in the Margins: A National Survey of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Tansgender Asian and Pacific Islander Americans. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, 2007. PDF File. Daroya, Emerich. “Potatoes and Rice: Exploring the Racial Politics of Gay Asian and White Men’s Desires and Desirability.” Australian Critical Race and Whiteness Studies Association 9.2 (2013): 1-13. Web. 2 December 2014. Puar, Jasbir K. “Transnational Sexualities.” Q&A: Queer in Asian America. Eds. David L. Eng and Alice Y. Hom. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998. 405-422. Web. 2 December 2014. Xu, Mingzhao. The Negotiation of Political Identities: Being Queer and an Asian Pacific Islander. University of California Prized Writing, n.d. PDF File. Read More