Lesbian and Gay Asian Collective Is Founded
The Lesbian and Gay Asian Collective, founded during the First National Third World Lesbian and Gay Conference in October 1979 in Washington, D.C., was the first organization of its kind in the world. Comprising lesbian and gay Asian activists from North America, the collective emerged from a caucus that sought to address the isolation felt by Asian members within the predominantly white gay movement. Although initially intended to be a temporary gathering, the collective aimed to foster connections among Asian Americans and Asian Canadians and to promote visibility and pride within these communities.
The formation of the collective marked a significant moment in LGBTQ+ history, emphasizing the intersection of race and sexual identity. Members actively participated in the first March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights, proudly displaying their identity with the banner "We're Asians, Gay & Proud." The collective's activities contributed to a broader movement that challenged the misconception that LGBTQ+ individuals of color did not exist. Although the group eventually disbanded as members shifted their focus to local civil rights efforts, their legacy remains an important part of the ongoing struggle for equality and representation within both the LGBTQ+ and Asian communities.
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Lesbian and Gay Asian Collective Is Founded
The Lesbian and Gay Asian Collective was the first international group organized by and for lesbian and gay Asians. Although short-lived, the collective, which came together at the First National Third World Lesbian and Gay Conference, empowered its members to organize for lesbian and gay civil rights at the local level and inspired the formation of GLBT Asian groups in later years.
Date October 12-15, 1979
Locale Washington, D.C.
Key Figures
Richard Fung cofounder of the collectiveTana Loy cofounder of the collectiveMichiyo Fukaya (Margaret Cornell; b. 1953), Japanese European poet and activist
Summary of Event
The Lesbian and Gay Asian Collective, the first group of its kind anywhere in the world, was formed during the First National Third World Lesbian and Gay Conference, which was held October 12-15, 1979, in Washington, D.C. The collective, made up of lesbian and gay Asian activists from North America, emerged from a gay Asian caucus at the national conference, which had been meeting at Harambee House, a black-owned hotel next to Howard University. The collective, which included Asians from not only the United States but also Canada, was organized to last a short time only.
An announcement about the group’s formation in Gay Insurgent: A Gay Left Journal (Summer, 1980) stated the group’s goals succinctly: “There is as yet no agreed upon organizational structure; and no statement of principles to guide our group. But we all agreed that we wanted to end our isolation with the majority white gay movement, and to reach out to other Asian Americans and Asian Canadians.” The announcement provided a contact postal address in Philadelphia, and it suggested that Boston-area readers contact the previously formed group, Boston Asian Gay Men and Lesbians. It also suggested that Canadian readers contact a Third World conference participant who was from Toronto—Richard Fung, who would later be well known as an independent filmmaker documenting the Asian GLBT movement. Fung formed Gay Asians Toronto, the first gay Asian group in Canada, after the conference in Washington, D.C.
A black-and-white photograph (taken on October 13, 1979) in the same issue of Gay Insurgent shows participants of the first meeting of the Lesbian and Gay Asian Collective at the Third World conference. In addition to the four men and six women seen sitting in a circle, there were about one dozen or so more present at the formation of the collective.
One collective member, Chinese American Tana Loy, had been chosen by the collective to represent the group and address the Third World conference during a plenary session. Her speech, “Who’s the Barbarian?” suggested that Asians, newly empowered by the conference, should no longer avoid each other’s eyes when meeting in public, but, instead, should “run toward each other.”
About one dozen members of the collective joined the first March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights that Sunday, October 14, preceded by a historical march through D.C.’s predominantly black neighborhood and through Chinatown, the first time Asian lesbians and gays had openly marched through these neighborhoods. The group marched behind a large banner declaring “We’re Asians, Gay & Proud,” while chanting the same slogan. The collective’s marchers, along with the banner, also appear on the cover of the Summer, 1980, issue of Gay Insurgent. At the Washington Monument, Michiyo Fukaya, a lesbian poet of mixed European and Japanese origin from Vermont, addressed some 100,000 celebrants after the march, speaking on “Living in Asian America.” Gay Insurgent also reproduced the speeches by Loy and Fukaya.
Significance
The First National Third World Lesbian and Gay Conference served as a beacon for groups such as the Lesbian and Gay Asian Collective, bringing like-minded individuals together for a weekend of politicking and organizing. The larger conference also shattered the myth that there are no people of color who are also lesbian or gay. The collective was part of a weekend where hundreds of lesbian and gay people of color gathered and marched visibly and proudly to affirm their sexual identities as well as their races and ethnicities. Lesbian and Gay Asian Collective members would keep in touch with each other after the conference for a few years, but the group eventually dissolved as members continued their involvement with local civil rights organizing.
Bibliography
Fukaya, Michiyo. “Living in Asian America: An Asian American Lesbian’s Address Before the Washington Monument.” Gay Insurgent: A Gay Left Journal no. 6 (Summer, 1980): 16.
Lorde, Audre. “I Am Your Sister: Black Women Organizing Across Sexualities.” Freedom Organizing Pamphlet Series 3. Latham, N.Y.: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1985.
Loy, Tana. “Who’s the Barbarian? An Asian American Lesbian Speaks Before the Third World Conference.” Gay Insurgent: A Gay Left Journal no. 6 (Summer, 1980): 15.
Moraga, Cherríe L., and Gloria E. Anzaldúa, eds. This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color. 3d ed. Berkeley, Calif.: Third Woman Press, 2001.
Ratti, Rakesh, ed. A Lotus of Another Color: An Unfolding of the South Asian Gay and Lesbian Experience. Boston: Alyson, 1993.