Making of a Gay Asian Community : An Oral History of Pre-AIDS Los Angeles (Pacific Formations : Global Relations in Asian and Pacific Perspectives)

Rating:
Summary: original, needed, revolutionary, wonderful.....
Review: Eric Marcus records that men of color were questioned when they attended Mattachine events before Stonewall. Books and films concerning the Stonewall era and covering both coasts include Blacks and Latinos, but not Asians. Most work on gay men of color focus upon their struggles with HIV/AIDS. Urvashi Vaid writes that groups for gays and lesbians of color are largely invisible, underfunded, and short-lasting. When taking all these givens into account, an oral history about gay male Asian organizing pre-Stonewall and pre-AIDS is quite revolutionary and needed.

I am sooooo glad Wat had the vision and dedication to make this book. I was worried it would be a rough-around-the-edges dissertation, but it is smooth, well-conceived writing with a nice cover and everything. Finally, we get to hear about how gay Asian-American men negotiate their identities and make their own choices. This book is a gem.

This book is very much about the rise and fall of a gay Asian organization. Constructionists will love it. Essentialism is avoided in this work. Wat does a good job in predicting where gay Asian-Am activism is headed as well.

There are some problems with this book. Based on pure truth and no dilution from the author, a lot of this book focuses upon older white tops ordering around and manipulating Asian younger bottoms. People-of-color loving gay people of color will have a hard time swallowing these sections of the text. There's a catch-22 between the author and his interviewed subjects in which the subject's talking just prattles on but the author's analysis and academic sitations completely slow down the flow of the book. I'm kind of disappointed at how other gay men of color are erased from this history. For example, many of the subjects said they first met and spoke of organizing at a gay club that was half-Asian and half-Latino, yet no Latino is interviewed for this book, while whites are. The best chapter in the book deals with gay Asians as they try to become a part of mainstream Asian-American activism, yet the chapter is named after some "rice queen." Further, gay Asian in this book means male and "yellow", rather than "brown" or Polynesian here.

A few anthologies have chapters about gays of color and their organizing, but I can think of no book-length discussions. I am so glad I found this book. I think progressives and activists of all colors should read this book.

Rating:
Summary: original, needed, revolutionary, wonderful.....
Review: Eric Marcus records that men of color were questioned when they attended Mattachine events before Stonewall. Books and films concerning the Stonewall era and covering both coasts include Blacks and Latinos, but not Asians. Most work on gay men of color focus upon their struggles with HIV/AIDS. Urvashi Vaid writes that groups for gays and lesbians of color are largely invisible, underfunded, and short-lasting. When taking all these givens into account, an oral history about gay male Asian organizing pre-Stonewall and pre-AIDS is quite revolutionary and needed.

I am sooooo glad Wat had the vision and dedication to make this book. I was worried it would be a rough-around-the-edges dissertation, but it is smooth, well-conceived writing with a nice cover and everything. Finally, we get to hear about how gay Asian-American men negotiate their identities and make their own choices. This book is a gem.

This book is very much about the rise and fall of a gay Asian organization. Constructionists will love it. Essentialism is avoided in this work. Wat does a good job in predicting where gay Asian-Am activism is headed as well.

There are some problems with this book. Based on pure truth and no dilution from the author, a lot of this book focuses upon older white tops ordering around and manipulating Asian younger bottoms. People-of-color loving gay people of color will have a hard time swallowing these sections of the text. There's a catch-22 between the author and his interviewed subjects in which the subject's talking just prattles on but the author's analysis and academic sitations completely slow down the flow of the book. I'm kind of disappointed at how other gay men of color are erased from this history. For example, many of the subjects said they first met and spoke of organizing at a gay club that was half-Asian and half-Latino, yet no Latino is interviewed for this book, while whites are. The best chapter in the book deals with gay Asians as they try to become a part of mainstream Asian-American activism, yet the chapter is named after some "rice queen." Further, gay Asian in this book means male and "yellow", rather than "brown" or Polynesian here.

A few anthologies have chapters about gays of color and their organizing, but I can think of no book-length discussions. I am so glad I found this book. I think progressives and activists of all colors should read this book.