Chong-suk Han

They Don't Want To Cruise Your Type: Gay Men of Color and the Racial Politics of Exclusion

Despite the civil rights dialogue used by the gay community, many ‘gay’ organizations and members of the ‘gay’ community continue to exclude men of color from leadership positions and ‘gay’ establishments, thus continuing to add to the notion that ‘gay’ equals ‘white’. Likewise, gay men of color experience homophobia within their racial and ethnic communities. In this paper, I discuss both the subtle and the blatant forms of racial exclusion practised in the ‘gay’ community as well as the homophobia found in racial and ethnic communities to examine how such practices affect gay men of color, particularly their self-esteem and their emotional well-being.

A Qualitative Exploration of the Relationship Between Racism and Unsafe Sex Among Asian Pacific Islander Gay Men

Although reported cases of HIV/AIDS among gay Asian Pacific Islander (API) American men and API men who have sex with men (MSM) are still relatively low, current research findings indicate that incidences of unsafe sexual activity may be higher for this group than for any other group. Among the explanations offered to explain the levels of increasing unsafe sex among gay API men have been sexual norms found in Asian cultures, the lack of culturally relevant and/or linguistically appropriate intervention material, lack of integration into the mainstream gay community, and internalized homophobia. What are often ignored in these analyses are the contextual norms in which sexual behavior for gay API men occur. In this article, I develop the argument that racism within the gay community leads to socially and contextually prescribed sexual roles for gay API men that may also contribute to the practice of unsafe sex among this group.

Strategies for Managing Racism and Homophobia among U.S. Ethnic and Racial Minority Men Who Have Sex with Men.

Despite widespread recognition that experiences of social discrimination can lead to poor physical and mental health outcomes for members of minority groups, little is known about how U.S. ethnic minority men who have sex with men (MSM) manage their experiences of racism and homophobia. We conducted six focus group discussions (n = 50) and 35 in-depth interviews with African American, Latino, and Asian and Pacific Islander MSM (aged 18 or older) recruited in Los Angeles. This process revealed five strategies that MSM of color employed in order to mitigate the impact of racism and homophobia. To minimize opportunities for stigmatization, men used (a) concealment of homosexuality and (b) disassociation from social settings associated with stigmatization. To minimize the impact of experienced stigma, men (c) dismissed the stigmatization and (d) drew strength and comfort from external sources. Men also actively countered stigmatization by (e) direct confrontation. More research is needed to understand the efficacy of these coping strategies in mitigating negative health consequences of stigmatization and discrimination.

No fats, femmes, or Asians: the utility of critical race theory in examining the role of gay stock stories in the marginalization of gay Asian men

In the last few decades, proponents of critical race theory have uncovered everyday forms of injustice that continue to affect the lives of men and women of color by exposing the subtle forms of racism that exist in the stock stories told by the dominant group as well as the counterstories told by subaltern groups. However, rarely have we examined the stock stories articulated by subaltern groups to marginalize other subaltern groups. In this paper, I consider the stock stories told by gay White men and the counterstories expressed by gay Asian men to examine subtle forms of racism within the gay community. I argue that we need not only to reveal how the stories narrated by the dominant group continue to maintain social inequality, but that we also need to consider how subaltern groups help to maintain social inequality by adapting the language of the dominant group to use against other subaltern groups.

Dual identity among gay Asian Pacific Islander men

This paper examines the complexity associated with having two potentially conflicting social identities in the USA: being Asian Pacific Islander and being gay. Twenty‐five gay Asian Pacific Islander men completed individual interviews regarding their racial and sexual identities and the intersection between the two. Data analysis revealed diversity in ways by which individuals integrated their dual identities and expressed themselves to others; pathways by which individuals combined their race and sexuality into a coherent self‐concept; and strategies for maintaining harmony and balance in self understanding. Findings emphasized the role of situational factors in determining the salience and relevance of each component of identity. Their experiences are discussed in the light of theoretical models of psychosocial development and frameworks for understanding self‐concept complexity.

Magic Johnson doesn't worry about how to pay for medicine: experiences of black men who have sex with men living with HIV.

Despite high and rapidly growing incidence of HIV, little is known about the everyday lived experiences of HIV-positive black men who have sex with men. Lack of empirical knowledge about members of this group is especially problematic as HIV-positive individuals continue to live in a world of hope, fear, waiting and wondering, which can heavily influence their everyday lives. In this exploratory study, we examine the everyday lives of HIV-positive black gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, particularly how being a racial minority may influence the ways that they manage living with the illness. Our goal was to provide a forum from which black men could share their personal experiences regarding the various aspects of living with HIV. In doing so, we identified five themes that may be unique to black men or experienced differently by black men due, in the USA, to their racial minority status.

No brokeback for black men: pathologizing black male (homo)sexuality through down low discourse

In recent years, the down low phenomenon has received unprecedented attention in both the popular and academic press. However, much of this work has focused on exploring whether men on the down low present a unique threat for HIV infection to black women. Currently, there exist very few scholarly or popular works exploring the meaning attached to the down low, not only by those who promote the label for academic studies or for media dispersal. In this essay, I shed new light on the meanings attached to the down low by the popular press, critically evaluating how it is used to create a category that is marked by an undesirable categorization of black men, and provide an argument as to why black men who have sex with men may adopt the label for themselves.

One Gay Asian Body: A Personal Narrative for Examining Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Research examining persons-in-environments have focused heavily on the environment at the expense of the individuals in the environment. Yet social work has much to learn from individual narratives that offer a method of inquiry to document efforts to promote individual and societal transformation. In this article, I use the life experiences of one gay Asian man to examine how an individual who is both racially and sexually marginalized negotiates his identity in light of environmental influences to develop a positive self-image.

We Pretend like Sexuality Doesn't Exist: Managing Homophobia in Gaysian America

Despite the well documented cases of homophobia experienced by gay Asian men in Asian communities, there is currently little research examining how members of this group manage the stigmatized statuses of homosexuality. In this article, we examine stigma management strategies used by gay Asian men to deal with homophobia and explore how members of this group engage in both individual stigma management strategies as well as collective stigma management strategies with their family and friends in order to maintain family harmony. Finally, we also explore ways that members of this group attempt to redefine homosexuality in an effort to de-stigmatize what it means to be gay and Asian.

Introduction to the Special Issue on GLBTQ of Color

Several years ago, I saw a poster proudly displayed in the lobby of a prominent gay organization featuring an image of an innocent toddler. The text below the image simply read, “We’ll be here, when his parents kick him out.” The message, of course, was rather clear. Yet I couldn’t stop wondering who would be there for people who look like me. As a community activist, I’ve met countless gay leaders who want to believe that there aren’t issues of racism within the gay community. As members of an oppressed group, they like to think that they are above oppressing others. Once when I was invited to sit on a planning committee for a community “race forum” being hosted by a large GLBTQ-serving community organization, representatives of the host agency made it clear that we would be discussing “race” and not “racism.” Although most of us who were invited to sit on this committee were eager to discuss issues of racism within the gay community, we nonetheless came to a consensus that talking about race was a good start. So we were shocked when the Executive Director of the agency began the forum by stating, “We won’t be addressing racism because it’s too hard to define, but it’s important to keep in mind that everyone is capable of racism.” With one sentence, he managed to turn racism from a very specific action committed by White gay men and women against GLBTQ of color into a common experience shared by all gay people, regardless of color. No one is to blame if everyone is a victim. And no one is a victim is everyone is culpable. The notion that “everyone is capable of racism” is hard to swallow given the reality of being GLBTQ in the United States. Looking around any gayborhood, something becomes blatantly clear to those of us on the outside looking in. Within the queer spaces that have sprung up in once neglected and forgotten neighborhoods, inside the slick new storefronts and trendy restaurants, and on magazine covers, gay America looks very, very White. Whiteness in the gay community is everywhere, from what we see, what we experience, and more importantly, what we desire. Media images, both