Asian American/Pacific Islander Sexualities

Queer and trans sexualities have existed across Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) countries and communities over a long period of time; however, there continue to be silences and gaps in documenting and valuing these sexualities. Queer is an umbrella term that encompasses lesbian, bisexual, gay, and questioning as well as other sexual orientation identities. Trans is also an umbrella term that refers to gender identities such as transsexual, genderqueer, male-to-female (MtF), and female-to-male (FtM), among others. Estimating accurate numbers of queer and trans people currently in the United States is challenging because of societal heterosexism, which fosters a homophobic and transphobic environment where queer and trans AAPI people may not feel comfortable disclosing their sexualities and gender identities. In [Page 95]addition, queer and trans AAPI people ...