BY BTL STAFF
NEW YORK – Emotionally moving new videos of Asian parents of LGBT children appeared as popup ads on YouTube before viewers watch their favorite Chinese Soap Opera, Filipino comedy, Korean drama, Vietnamese talent show, or Bollywood movie.
This innovate effort launched on National Coming Out Day Oct. 11 to reach mainstream Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Muslim audiences will build more LGBT acceptance among America's fastest growing racial minority group – Asian Americans – who are also the largest segment of new immigrants coming to the U.S. Many Asians are limited English proficient and conversant only their native languages.
The effort is spearhead by the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) and Asian Pride Project (APP). Organizers hope to educate more Asian parents so that they will be supportive of their LGBT children, inspire more allies for the LGBT community, and change hearts and minds. Several of the ads feature parents of transgender and gender nonconforming youth.
"Our country is so dividednow. Countless LGBT people feel unsafe and we need the security of our families now more than ever. We fight hate with love." said Glenn Magpantay, Executive Director of NQAPIA.
The ads played on YouTube in seven languages – Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese Tagalog, Hindi. The popup ads are part of a comprehensive Asian Family Acceptance Campaign, entitled "Family Is Still Family," which features: live workshops of API parents of LGBT children in a cities across the country, translated leaflets dispelling common myths and misconception about being LGBT in 25 Asian, Pacific, and Muslim languages and scripts, and commercials on major Asian ethnic TV channels.
Last year, NQAPIA placed ads on Asian international channels (Sinovision, Television Korea, Zee TV) that reached 23 million Asian households across the nation.
Asian and South Asian LGBT youth face unique obstacles to coming out, including the fear of shaming and dishonoring their parents and ancestors. These cultural obstacles often lead to self-loathing, depression and suicide. This revolutionary multilingual "Family Is Still Family" campaign removes the specter of shame, silence and guilt by having parents open the closet door for their kids, offering unconditional love and acceptance.
"For generations, a culture of shame and misinformation has kept Asian American youth in the closet," continued Glenn Magpantay, Executive Director of NQAPIA. "Our new Asian Family Acceptance Campaign will break this cycle of shame and suicide by helping API parents, many who are immigrants and bilingual, to open the door to unconditional love and acceptance for their LGBT children."
"We debut this Family is Still Family PSA Campaign at a crucial time in the LGBTQ movement," said Aries Liao, co-founder of Asian Pride Project. "These videos not only honor the courage of family members speaking out about their love for their children, but raise awareness more broadly of the essential role that families – no matter how defined – can play in nurturing acceptance within the Asian American community."
This effort was made possible with the generous support of the CJ Huang Foundation, Walter & Evelyn Haas, Jr. Fund, Arcus Foundation, and Project By Project.
Videos are here:
Mandarin with English subtitles – Deanna Cheng, a Chinese mother of a gay son.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8pc0rQ1LDc
Cantonese with English subtitles – Rosetta Lai, a Chinese mother of a lesbian daughter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEh4TBEb7-w
English with Hindi subtitles – Vinay Chaudhry, an Indian father of a genderqueer child.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaGT3BZPFdU
Hindi with English subtitles – Kamlesh and Harcharan Bagga, Indian parents of a gay son.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU8AufUtCZ4
Korean with English subtitles – Clara Yoon, a Korean mother of a transgender son.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yQD0k-bY_Y
English with Japanese subtitles – Marsha and Tad Aizumi, Japanese parents of a transgender son.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ-2mnp0s94
Vietnamese with English subtitles – Ha Nguyen, a Vietnamese mother of a gay son.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOeu2fIxHT8
English with Lao subtitles – Phanida Phivilay, a Lao mother of a lesbian daughter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEZsuM6-Ss4
English with Tagalog subtitles – Carol Mannion, a Filipina mother of a gay son.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhnrfowu__M
