Transnational Connections and Collaborations
While Toronto was inevitably GAT's home base, its frequent collaborations and transnational mindset meant that the organization had broad geographic influence. One of the most prominent events that allowed for this to happen is GAT’s organizing of the 1985 International Gay Association Conference. The International Gay Association Conference allowed GAT members to connect with other queer Asians from across not just Canada, but the world. These contacts encouraged GAT to collaborate with other queer Asian organizations in local and global contexts, as compared to other queer organizations within Canada that had decidedly more local networks. GAT worked especially closely with prominent queer Asian organizations in Vancouver, Boston, Japan, and Hong Kong.
Vancouver
The first mention of Vancouver within GAT's records was in Celebrasian's September 1984 issue, which congratulated the recently formed Gay Asians of Vancouver (GAV). GAV's goals were both political and social; the article claimed that the organization's mission was to “bring together gay men and lesbians of Asian origin in an atmosphere of mutual understanding, support, and growth.” GAV also noted that “it is hoped that issues relating to gay Asians can be raised and dealt with by Asians themselves.”[1] The article elaborated on how GAT was specifically a model for GAV. It concluded by encouraging readers in Vancouver to contact GAV directly by writing or calling, and GAV was listed as an organization in the directory published in the same issue.
The Gay Asians of the Vancouver Area (GAVA) was another queer Asian organization within British Columbia that had ties with GAT. GAVA, formed in August 1990, frequently cited GAT's success within Toronto as an inspiration for its own community organizing. GAVA's newsletter was initially named Voices in 1991 and 1992 and then was renamed Orientasian in 1992. GAT had a formative influence on GAVA, which reached out to GAT in the hopes of “exchang[ing] ideas and experiences.”[2] GAT's influence on GAVA extended to activism. GAVA, for example, adapted GAT's Gay Asian Aids Project (GAAP) materials for a similar initiative within the Vancouver area. At one point in 1991 GAVA received a letter from GAT's Dr. Alan Li: "It was very inspiring for us to have the opportunity to share ideas with our brothers at GAVA.... We would be most happy to let you adapt our AIDS information flyers for distribution to your community.” This collaboration was referenced a few months later, with an article citing GAT’s and GAAP's efforts at AIDS prevention as inspirations for GAVA's work on AIDS prevention.[4]
Collaborations between Asian lesbians in Vancouver and Toronto seem to have been especially close. This was largely due to GAT member Mary Woo-Sims. While GAT appeared to recognize a gender representation problem within its organization and within the queer Toronto community at large, GAT itself was decidedly not oriented to lesbians. GAT, however, made several attempts to include lesbians. For example, the group’s September 1987 meeting minutes indicate that there was explicit discussion of the fact that GAT needed to expand its membership to include more members from different Asian origins and recruit Asian lesbians. According to the minutes, “It was agreed that we approach Mary Woo-Sims to join us in the GAT Collective to recruit Lesbians of Asian origin and create a relationship which would benefit both parties.”[5]
Woo-Sims, an active GAT member in the 1980s, moved to Vancouver in 1997 after being appointed Chief Commissioner on British Columbia's Human Rights Commission.[6] While living in Toronto in the 1980s, Woo-Sims helped form the Asian Lesbians of Toronto, which inspired Vancouver lesbians to form Asian Lesbians of Vancouver (ALOV). Both organizations were active until at least the 1990s; ALOT was active until at least 1993[7] and ALOV was active until at least 1996.[8]ALOV even collaborated frequently with GAVA, hosting multiple events together, with the latest one documented in 1994.[9] ALOT was similarly significant enough within Toronto to host large scale events. In 1988, for example, ALOT hosted a presentation called “Asian Lesbians Past and Present,” a collaboration with June Chan, a director from the New York-based organization Asian Lesbians of the East Coast.[10]
Boston
Similar collaborations developed between Toronto and Boston. At the 1979 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Washington, D.C., Richard Fung met multiple gay Asians from around the United States, especially in cities that had well-developed queer cultures, such as Boston, New York, and San Francisco. With regards to Boston, Fung's meeting with Siong-Haut Chua sparked an alliance between GAT and Boston Asian Gay Men and Lesbians (BAGMAL, later renamed Alliance of Massachusetts Asian Lesbians and Gay Men, or AMALGM).
BAGMAL had a somewhat similar founding story to GAT. While GAT garnered both attention and members from the publication of Gerald Chan's short story, BAGMAL similarly found and gained members through print and the written word: "There's a first time for everything, and the first time for BAGMAL happened one summer evening in 1979. Two women and two men met at Glad Day Book Shop in Boston, all of them Asian, and all of them queer. Although it doesn't sound like a momentous occasion, as far as we know, this was the first meeting of the first organization of its kind in the country.”[11] Significantly, GAT was mentioned as a frequent collaboratorin BAGMAL’s newsletters. The earliest mention was in September 1984: “In October of the same year [1979], the fledgling group [of Boston-based Asians] joined the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. At the march, Siong-huat met other gay Asians from Toronto, thereby spurring the formation of Gay Asians of Toronto.”[12]
Following Chua and Fung's meeting in 1979, GAT and BAGMAL regularly exchanged newsletters and resources. For example, GAT and itss newsletter were frequently mentioned in BAGMAL's newsletters. In February 1987, for example, BAGMAL’s newsletter noted, “We have maintained ties and correspondence with particularly the Gay Asians of Toronto and Asians and Friends of Chicago, both of which put out excellent newsletter which we receive regularly. We are in the happy position now of being able to exchange publications with them.”[13] Celebrasian was also available at Glad Day, a gay bookstore in Boston with sister locations in Toronto.[14] GAT returned the favour; Chua delivered a one hour presentation at GAT's 1985 International Gay Association conference, and Chua was personally thanked in the following issue of Celebrasian.[15] BAGMAL/AMALGM articles were regularly reprinted and praised in Celebrasian throughout the 1980s.[16]
Contacts between BAGMAL/AMALGM and GAT extended for many years, as was mentioned in a 1987 BAGMAL newsletter::
“For us in October 1979 it was an even greater revelation to meet up with gay Asians from outside our local area. BAGMAL then was only a few months old.... I met Richard Fung who had gone on to found the Gay Asians of Toronto shortly thereafter. These were spontaneous, personal rapport formed in a short time but which developed into informal networks which we used to keep each other informed of developments within our local areas. It was gratifying to see that eight years later viable, organized communities have formed in the major cities.”[17]
Beyond sharing publications, GAT and BAGMAL/AMALGM regularly hosted events with one another and encouraged their members to attend. For example, in November 1985, GAT hosted a screening of the film Pink Triangles, which featured an interview with the Boston Asian Lesbian group.[18] Similarly, in April 1988, BAGMAL hosted a showing of Richard Fung’s film Orientations, which featured interviews with various gay Asians in Toronto.[19]
Japan
Following the 1985 International Conference of Lesbians and Gays (also known as IGA International) in Toronto, GAT's connections with Japan expanded, largely due to the contact made between Japanese delegates and GAT members during the conference. After hosting IGA International, GAT was invited to attend the first Gay Asian Conference by Teishiro Minami, a Japanese gay magazine publisher and a 1985 IGA International attendee.[20] The conference included “workshops, a cinema program, an exhibition on homosexuality, video programs, photo expositions, and art exhibits.”[21] It was sponsored by the Japanese International Gay Support Group, led by Minami. Minami's vision of the conference was ambitious, reaching out to the Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, India, Taiwan, Malaysia, Korea, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia, as well as the United States and Canada for attendees.[22]
The organization of the first Gay Asian Conferences had several hurdles to overcome, largely due to infighting between two queer organizations within Japan: Minami's Japanese International Gay Support Group and the Tokyo Support Group. In November 1985, the Tokyo Support Group circulated a press release outlining its concerns about the conference:
“For almost five years, the Tokyo Gay Support Group has been the only organized non-business gay group in Japan (and we evidently still are).... It appears to us that Mr. Minami is using the proposed conference as a way of selling magazines here in Japan, nothing more. In other words, while we have no details about the conference, neither does Mr. Minami.... We don't trust what's going on. We can't advise you one way or the other as to your participation or the participation of your members. We wouldn't presume to do so, anyway.… But, at this juncture, please be aware that you simply may be used as a businessman who is trying to enhance his sphere of the gay publishing market in Japan.”[23]
The conflict was described in the Winter 1986 issue of Celebrasian and the press release apparently was sent to other gay Asian North American newsletters. In the same issue, GAT published correspondence between GAT's Alan Li and both Japanese groups, in addition to an interview with Minami. Li’s letter asked the Tokyo Support Group to aid Minami in organizing the conference. He wrote a similar letter imploring Minami to work with the Tokyo Support Group.
Despite these conflicts, the three-day conference was held as planned in Tokyo in May 1986. Only one member of GAT, Gary Joong, actually attended. He documented his experience in the Spring/Summer 1986 issue of Celebrasian, describing the conference as “the first attempt to create a Gay Liberation Movement to raise the consciousness of adult gays in Japan.”[24] The gathering attracted attendees from Denmark, South Korea, Macau, Malaysia, and Canada. Joong considered the conference a success, praising the event and thanking Minami personally. There were discussions about having a more prominent Asian conference in Hong Kong in 1988, but it is unclear whether such a conference ever took place.[25]
Hong Kong
Dr. Alan Li, one of the most prominent members of the Gay Asians of Toronto, was instrumental in the formation of the 10% Club, a queer political organizing group in Li's home country of Hong Kong. The 10% Club, founded in 1985 and later described as "the first formal gay organization in Hong Kong" by AMALGM, hopedto promote awareness and community among gay Hong Kong men, as well as to function as a means of gay political organizing. Li's role in founding the 10% Club was documented by AMALGM in November 1988:
There are currently about 20 local gay activists undertaking the difficult task of gay liberation in Hong Kong. The 10% Club, a group formed 2 years ago is the only active gay organization. The group was initiated by Alan Li, one of the moving forces behind the Gay Asians of Toronto in Canada. The initial purpose of the 10% Club was to provide a social outlet as well as to promote consciousness-raising among Hong Kong gay men. Since this was the first formal gay organization in Hong Kong, it initially received tremendous response. The members of the 10% Club have organized many social events and produced plays such as The Story of Two Boys, Itchy Bitchy Darling, The Outsider, and others. However with the return of Li to Canada a decline in the activities of this group has occurred.[26]
Even if it was not as active after Li returned to Canada in 1988, it remained in existence until 1989, according to GAT materials, and perhaps later.
[1] “Gay Asians of Vancouver,” Celebrasian, October 1984, 14.
[2] Jeff, “Other Happy Asians,” Orientasian, August 1992, 2.
[3] Alan Li, “Letter from Dr. Alan Li to Tom Szeto,” Voices, June 1991, 11.
[4] Henry, “Financing with GAVA: A Review for the Financial Report for the Period 1 May to 31 July, 1991,” Voices, September 1991, 6.
[5] Gay Asians AIDS Project Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes, October 10, 1989, Gay Asians of Toronto Fonds, Box 65, Folder 62-07-046, The ArQuives, Toronto.
[6] Mary-Woo Sims Celebration Dinner Pamphlet, 1997, Canadian Vertical Files, Box Sidd - Siw, Folder Can 5146, ArQuives, Toronto.
[7] “Groups/Publications Directory,” Khush Kayal, November 29, 1993, 7.
[8] C. Allyson Lee, “A Matter of 'Clusion,” Xtra! West: Vancouver's Gay and Lesbian News, July 25, 1996, 7.
[9] “Lunar New Year Celebrations,” Xtra! West: Vancouver's Gay and Lesbian News, March 25, 1994, 27.
[10] Asian Lesbians Past and Present Poster, 1988, Canadian Vertical Files, Box Art S. Association E, Folder 251, ArQuives, Toronto.
[11] “A BAGMAL Chronology,” Boston Asian Gay Men and Lesbians Newsletter, September 13, 1984, 2.
[12] “A BAGMAL Chronology,” 2.
[13] “For the Record,” Boston Asian Gay Men and Lesbians Newsletter, February 1, 1987, 1.
[14] “CelebrAsian Press,” Celebrasian, June 1998, 43.
[15] Larry Beck, “A Journey in Smashing Borders,” Celebrasian, November 30, 1985, 14.
[16] “Boston Asian Gay Men and Lesbians,” Celebrasian, December 1984, 37-39.
[17] S. H. Chua, “March on Washington Report,” Boston Asian Gay Men and Lesbians Newsletter, November 1, 1987, 2.
[18] “GAT Highlights,” Celebrasian, November 30, 1985, 4.
[19] “Calendar Video Party,” Boston Asian Gay Men and Lesbians Newsletter, April 1, 1988, 2.
[20] “Japan to Host First Asian Gay Conference,” Celebrasian, November 30, 1985, 7.
[21] “Japan to Host First Asian Gay Conference,” 7.
[22] Teishiro Minami, “News on the First Asian Gay Conference,” Celebrasian, Winter 1986, 8.
[23] “Tokyo Support Group Press Release,” Celebrasian, Winter 1986, 7.
[24] Gary Joong, “First Gay Asian Conference: Japan 1986,” Celebrasian, May 30, 1986, 18.
[25] Joong, “First Gay Asian Conference,” 20.
[26] Jack Lo, “Gay Hong Kong: A Report,” Alliance of Massachusetts Asian Lesbians and Gay Men Newsletter, November 1, 1988, 15.