I sit next to my attorney silently, facing the immigration judge. I am told my case (aka my life, aspirations and my body) is under his jurisdiction. I am dressed as professionally as possible to aptly represent my "Alien of Extraordinary Ability" status. I nervously look around the room. My dark eyes catch another attorney behind us signaling me to take off my hat. Promptly I take off my favorite accessory (my only sign of faggotry) to show my compliance with the US judicial practices. The judge begins his inquiry, to which my attorney reveals my HIV status, and my inability to adjust my status even though my petition for permanent residency to the US was granted on the basis of my claim as an "Alien of Extraordinary Ability" in February 2002.

The pain of hiding underground, days of unemployment, hunger, fear of accessing treatment leading me to near death flashes across my mind. Where would I turn for the wasted seven years of my life? Will this judge be able to understand the lost wages, aspirations, depression and most of all the psychological violence of being separated from my beloved parents? It is clear my journey to justice is only beginning.

This blog post is my first public step in ending isolation, silence, fear and their antecedent dysfunctions that the HIV ban on immigration and travel has wrought upon my life. It has disrupted my educational, work and all major life aspirations. I have silently watched my friends getting married, accessing green card,...

Now 42 years ago, the United States Supreme Court struck down any remaining anti-miscegenation laws in the case Loving vs. Virginia, Mildred and Richard Loving’s challenge to the state of Virginia’s ban on the marriage between people of different races.  But, a recent Justice of the Peace’s denial of a Louisiana couple’s application for a marriage license indicates that the debates over interracial marriage are hardly over.

Keith Bardwell, a Louisiana justice of the peace, denied Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay, an interracial couple, a marriage license citing concerns for their children.  The couple does not currently have children, so the justice is operating under the assumption that, once married, the couple would seek to have children, presumably through conception rather than adoption. ...

In our graduate seminars, we talk a lot about race and color, including how whiteness is cherished and celebrated in and outside the United States.

These class discussions and other conversations with my fellow students and friends made me think about the various fairness products that are marketed and sold back home. (In no way am I trying to be the voice of my nation. These are just MY views on such 'beauty' products.)

Here's a fine example of what I'm talking about:

So clearly, once you're beautiful (i.e. fair, white) you can achieve anything! Name, fame, money and power! You can realize your inner dreams and talents 'cos opportunities are endless!

So what happens if you're not fair? Well, basically then you're nobody! You're boring, unwanted and invisible. Your life sucks! (and not in a pleasurable way!)

...

(Originally posted on wiqaable.com)

One of the few things I can't handle is people's injury stories. People talk about their injuries and scars as if they would make them more brave or honorable or whatever, but frankly, I think it's disrespectful to talk about painful stories in front of a person who just can't handle it. Is it about masculinity? Do you need to talk about your scars to prove how "dangerous" or "strong" you are? Well, I don't care. So next time you see me, please don't talk about breaking your bones.

This is because I've never had any big injury since I was born. I've never broken my bones, I've never gotten into car accidents, and I've never fallen down the stairs. I've been so fortunate that I don't know how painful it would be to get your bones broken, and I would imagine the most extreme pain possible right before I pass out. That's a painful imagination.

I've never been really sick either, except for occasional skin problems I always had growing up. I've never gotten a flu, I've never had food poisoning, and I've never been hospitalized. I'm not saying that I've always been healthy, but if health is determined, simplistically, by the absence of disease or injury, I've always enjoyed my health.

Perhaps this is part of the reason why I don't like going to a hospital. I'm so unfamiliar with that super clean and slightly sorrowful atmosphere inside the...

What does it mean to have a gay Korean American man as today's best-known face of so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" controversy?

In my narrow mind, rainbow flags don't match military camouflage patterns, and Korean blood doesn't mix well with American coca-cola. In front of my face, in a picture, Dan Choi (pronounced like che) wears a smile in a built body in front of a rainbow flag, out and proud and patriotic. I guess.

I have avoided talking, writing, or even thinking about him until now because I knew that if I had been to question him, I would have had to talk intensely to myself as an anti-militaristic Queer Korean man. Am I ready yet? Probably not. But I just couldn't ignore my inner questioning self.

In case you haven't noticed, I believe that everyone should be discouraged to join military, whether Queer or not-yet-Queer-minded. I also believe that everyone should be encouraged to develop critical thinking and anti-oppression ideology. If one is to call "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy oppressive, one shall also point out the oppressive nature of militarism. Therefore, my brain refuses to accept any ideas but "Don't Serve, Don't Kill." And of course, I'm particularly against U.S. (and Japanese) military because of its past and ongoing wrongdoings in various world regions like East Asia, Pacific, and Southwestern Asia (aka Middle...

From our friends at Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice:

Have you ever wondered how communities of color can be more deeply engaged in the fight for comprehensive sexuality education?

Have you been interested in how a reproductive justice approach to sexuality education justice can broaden the movement for comprehensive sexuality education?

Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice (ACRJ) is excited to release our brand new toolkit:  Transforming API Communities: Tools for Sexuality Education.  While numerous toolkits provide the nuts and bolts of developing and implementing local comprehensive sexuality education campaigns, what’s lacking are resources aimed at getting parents and caregivers in communities of color and immigrant communities to a place where they feel inspired and prepared to engage in campaigns.  In our work at ACRJ, we’ve found that API parents are especially in need of useful and concrete tools to transform their beliefs about the benefits of comprehensive sexuality education into action for change.  By meeting API parents where...

Summer '09 saw a landmark judgment by the High Court of New Delhi, India on July 02, 2009 when a Division Bench of Justice struck down the provision of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalized consensual sexual acts of adults in private, holding that it violated the fundamental right of life and liberty and the right to equality as guaranteed in the Constitution. In their 105-page order, they declared that Section 377 violates Articles 21 (Right to Protection of Life and Personal Liberty), 14 (Right to Equality before Law) and 15 (Prohibition of Discrimination on Grounds of Religion, Race, Caste, Sex or Place of Birth) of the Constitution.

On one hand, there were celebrations among the queer community in Delhi and all over the country while on the other hand, many religious leaders rejected HC's decision outright and claimed that this decision was an attempt to impose "western" culture on Indian society. It might be interesting to note that Section 377 that was used to harass sexual minorities in the country is a relic of the British era. There is vast literature out there (Same Sex Love in India and Queering India by Ruth Vanita are two books on top of my mind right now) that suggests that same sex love and other sexual lifestyles such as the hijra culture was accepted, celebrated and was very much a part of the society all throughout history. So why are we now looking at homosexuality as western culture?

A few weeks later, the...

Earlier this week, Megan Rauscher reported the findings of a recent study on race/ethnicity among MSMs, or men who have sex with men, in San Francisco: http://in.reuters.com/article/health/idINTRE5654MK20090706  In the study, published in the June 2009 issue of AIDS Behavior, a scholarly journal devoted to research on AIDS, researchers Raymond and McFarland seek to explore a paradox found in recent research on AIDS among MSMs: HIV/AIDS rates are much higher among Black men who have sex with men, but they are no more likely to engage in “risky” sexual practices (e.g., sex without condoms, sex under the influence of drugs and alcohol). 

Like previous research, they found that Black MSMs are more likely to have partners of the same race.  It’s the rest of the research that turns this seemingly innocent same-race preference into something much more disgusting: among their Asian, Latino, and white participants, Black men were consistently rated as the least desirable among these four racial/ethnic groups and perceived as the greatest risk for HIV/AIDS infection.  Even among their Black participants, they found that Black men were not their top...

On Monday, June 22 the National Sexuality Resource Center sponsored a panel discussion of the film Still Black:A Portrait of Black Transmen after the film’s Frameline debut as a part of the NSRC’s Summer Institute on Race, Gender, and Sexuality. Panelists included JayR Rosemon from Dimensions Clinic; Zion Johnson founding member of the Lou Sullivan Society; Shawn Demmons, an MPH Candidate San Francisco State University and a Point Foundation Scholar; and Amy Sueyoshi, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies and Sexuality Studies at San Francisco State University.

Amy Sueyoshi agreed to share her comments from that panel in my blog. Her comments are a valuable resource for sexuality educators interested using Still Black in the classroom as a tool for teaching about sexuality, gender, and race.

I know what you are thinking. Cocktales? WTF is Cocktales? Please let me explain. Cocktales is not some new gay club opening in the Castro that centers on men’s cocks with hella cheap happy hour specials. There will be no Black Supermen or Asian Hotties being served at the bar—if you never had one, please speak with your bartender IMMEDIATELY cause you missing out. Cocktales, my friends is something completely not alcohol related. KEEP READING! Cocktales is really apart of a new men’s social campaign, The Men’s Story Project, that provides a forum for men to share their personal stories about social ideas of masculinity, gender socialization, and how they navigate their journey to manhood. In a society where men are constantly inundated with ideas and values that suggest the only way to be a man is to fuck bitches and get money, the Men’s Story Project says NO. For all my academics out there let me spit it to you like this- Cocktales is a social project that provides a forum for all men to share stories that highlight the intersections between race, gender, sexuality, religion, and class. It questions hegemonic notions of masculinity while simultaneously agitating normative and hetero-normative beliefs and ideologies that have been strategically created and deployed to police...