On the eve of my 18th birthday, in the starting-to-become-summer month of May of 1980, I got to sleep in the arms of my boyfriend Danny. Having spent an overnight with him, in a friends spare bedroom, making love (before AIDS), away from the prying eyes of our families and the ‘fag bashing’ we feared,
Growing up, I could not imagine anyone accepting me for my queer and trans identities. I viewed these parts of myself as a burden that I had to carry, something ugly and unlovable. Believing that I could never show my queerness to anyone, I hid and silenced myself. In order to keep myself safe, I
I grew up in a traditional Hmong household that practiced under a patriarchal system with gendered roles and a religious belief of Shamanism, the belief that spirits are intertwined with our physical reality. These traditions taught me that queer Hmong individuals do not have a place in our community because we do not fit the
I’m excited and proud to announce that we are changing our name. From today onwards, we will be known as Lavender Phoenix.
“What is healing?” is the question I have been asking APIENC’s Core Committee ever since we established Healing Justice as a key pillar of our new Theory of Change. In our movements, healing is all the buzz, yet what does that actually look like in community? The term “Healing Justice” also has gained attention, but
Dear APIENC Community, I started organizing around my identity as a queer kānaka maoli from a place of great anger. I was angry that my lāhui lived in such dire poverty in our own homeland. I was angry that the university I attended actively contributed to the desecration of our ‘āina. I was angry that
Do you want to work with trans, non-binary, and queer Asian and Pasifika communities?Do you have a commitment to social justice, liberation, and collective transformation?Are you ready to learn concrete organizing skills and build movements for change? The APPLICATION for APIENC’s Summer Organizer Program is now open! Applications are due March 1st, 2022! ABOUT THE
