GAPIMNY, Q-WAVE and SALGA stand with My Asian Americana
See below for our statement on the White House Initiative on Asian Americans & Pacific Islander’s “What’s Your Story” video challenge, in which GAPIMNY, a member of the Asian Pride Project, participated.
As LGBT Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, issues of deportation and repatriation are our issues too.
For Immediate Release
May 3, 2012
Contact:
GAPIMNY – gapimny@gapimny.org
Q-WAVE – info@q-wave.org
SALGA – hello@salganyc.org
For a Pdf version, of the statement Click Here.
GAPIMNY, Q-WAVE, and SALGA Stand With My Asian Americana
New York, NY — GAPIMNY, Q-WAVE, and SALGA are core partners in the Asian Pride Project (APP). Together, we submitted a video for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) “What’s Your Story” video challenge. WHIAAPI received over 200 submissions for the contest. After choosing 11 finalists from the pool, WHIAAPI asked the public to watch and vote to aid the judges’ choice in who would be invited to the “Champions of Change” event on April 5, 2012. APP was one of the finalists ultimately recognized.
We are truly honored by the recognition of our work elevating the stories of parents, siblings and friends of LGBTQ Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. However, we are also disappointed that another project was not given similar recognition.
“My Asian Americana”, a video featuring experiences of several Southeast Asian American deportees, received over 10,000 views by the end of the competition, nearly double the views of most of the finalists, including APP. Although views do not equate to votes, we believe that “My Asian Americana” should have been recognized not only because of the overwhelming public interest, but also mainly because of its pressing and too often neglected subject matter of criminalization and deportation of members of the Southeast Asian American community.
