Asian Ethnic Television Stations Air Ground-Breaking Public Service Announcements for LGBT Pride Month; At least 5 million views in 8 Asian languages and dialects
“Family acceptance is important to all, but ‘family’ is especially unique among Asian Americans.” said Executive Director Glenn Magpantay as the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) launches a first-ever national multilingual campaign to promote acceptance of LGBT people, amongst Asian Americans, South Asians, Southeast Asians, and Pacific Islanders (AAPI).
Asian parents who love their LGBT kids break traditional silence as they speak out in videos that will air as Public Service Announcements (PSA) in Asian ethnic television stations across the country during the month of June for LGBT Pride Month. The PSAs will reach at least 5 million viewers in 8 Asian languages and dialects.
According to Glenn D. Magpantay, NQAPIA Executive Director, “For Asian Americans, even if we win the right to marry, who will come to the wedding? Marriage is much more than just rights but the acceptance of LGBT people in our families. What’s a right without the recognition?” NQAPIA aims to reveal the diversity of the faces of parents who have LGBT kids and to promote understanding and acceptance.
“Family is Still Family, Love is Still Love,” one-page translated leaflets which answer basic questions about being LGBT and dispels common misperceptions will accompany the videos. They are translated into nineteen (19) Asian languages the largest number of languages ever translated of a single LGBT document.
While most Americans support same-sex marriage, one poll found that only a third of Asian Americans are supportive and almost half are opposed. The greatest opposition came from Asian Americans who were foreign-born, limited English proficient and older – the typical profile of a parent.
To combat the dearth of resources, role models, and culturally relevant messages and messengers, in Asian languages, NQAPIA, the Asian Pride Project, and parents have collaborated on the bilingual videos and translated leaflets.
The PSAs carries the message: “Too often our children are SHUNNED, ostracized and discriminated against in our own community. I am proud of my child. I have always been proud of my [son/daughter/child]. It is time to take a stand to support your children, my children, our children. Share your story of love and acceptance for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender children. After all family is still family and love is still love.”
Suma Reddy, from the Asian Pride Project who helped developed the videos said, “We hope to present new faces of those who support the LGBT community, in Asian languages. Our campaign not only supports parents who are often foreign-born immigrants or/and limited English proficient, but also LGBT youth who aim to come out to their parents.” “[pullquote]We hope to present new faces of those who support the LGBT community, in Asian languages. Our campaign not only supports parents who are often foreign-born immigrants or/and limited English proficient, but also LGBT youth who aim to come out to their parents.”—Suma Reddy, Asian Pride Project[/pullquote]
TV stations airing the PSA
KSCI-TV “LA18” (Los Angeles), KTSF (San Francisco Bay Area), Crossings TV (syndicated in New York, Chicago, Sacramento, and Fresno) and AAT-TV (Seattle). As of press time, stations in Honolulu, Boston, and DC Metro/ Maryland/ Virginia to be confirmed.
The videos will be publicly released by NQAPIA throughout June according to the following schedule:
June 16 – Korean/Japanese
- Korean with English subtitles – Clara Yoon, a Korean mother of a transgender son.
- English with Japanese subtitles – Marsha and Tad Aizumi, Japanese parents of a transgender son.
June 23 – Southeast Asian
- Vietnamese with English subtitles – Ha Nguyen, a Vietnamese mother of a gay son.
- English with Lao subtitles – Phanida Phivilay, a Lao mother of a lesbian daughter.
June 30 – Filipino
- English with Tagalog subtitles – Carol Mannion, a Filipina mother of a gay son.
These PARENTS are not actors, they are all every day parents from different parts of the country.
For more information visit NQAPIA. To view all of the multilingual videos for the campaign click here.
About the Sponsoring Organizations
The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) is a federation of LGBT Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations. We seek to build the organizational capacity of local LGBT AAPI groups, develop leadership, promote visibility, expand collaborations, and challenge homophobia and racism.
The Asian Pride Project fosters greater visibility, pride, acceptance, unity, and harmony for all LGBT Asians & Pacific Islander (API) people in their families, cultural communities and beyond. APP believes in the power of sharing, connecting, and relating to give API families and communities the support they need when struggling with the challenges of our sexual and gender identities in the API cultural context.
This effort was made possible with the generous support of the Arcus Foundation and David Bohnett Foundation.
[From a News Release]
