VIGIL
Asian-Americans Take a Stand Against Hate
LGBTQ folks speak up at Queens vigil following Atlanta shootings
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
Dozens of people in the Asian-American
community — including LGBTQ
individuals — gathered at
Moore Homestead Playground in
Elmhurst, Queens, on March 21 for a vigil honoring
the six Asian women who died in shootings
that left eight people dead at three spas in
Atlanta earlier this month.
Carolyn Tran, running to replace out gay termlimited
City Councilmember Daniel Dromm in
Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, organized the
event to demand justice and denounce the uptick
in violence against Asian-Americans.
The rally came fi ve days after Robert Aaron
Long, a 21-year-old gunman, was arrested
for allegedly carrying out the shootings. The
attacker allegedly told authorities he had a
“sexual addiction” and set out to kill the individuals
to stop his “temptation,” but many have
stressed that the killings were representative
of the larger wave of anti-Asian attacks across
the country. The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s
Offi ce in Georgia released four out of six
of the victims’ names; Hyun Jung Grant, 51,
Soon Chung Park, 74, Suncha Kim, 69, and
Yong Yue, who was 63 years old.
One of the vigil’s speakers, Pauline Park, a
Korean-American LGBTQ activist and president
of the board of directors for Queens Pride
House, told Gay City News the shooting highlights
existing disparities facing the LGBTQ
Asian community, such as joblessness, anti-
Asian bias, and immigration issues. These issues,
she said, can make individuals even more
vulnerable to violence and harassment.
“Lots of trans women end up in the sex industry
either by choice, because they were traffi
cked, or because of pervasive discrimination
and limited employment opportunities,” said
Park, who is a queer transgender woman. She
further explained that Asian immigrants, both
cisgender and transgender, often face economic
hurdles and immigration barriers that lead
them to industries lacking suffi cient protections.
The recent attacks also brought fresh attention
to the long history of racial and gender
violence against Asian communities in the US.
When the pandemic started, former President
Donald Trump blamed Asian individuals for the
mounting coronavirus cases and he targeted
the community with derogatory and racist language.
But Park also stressed that anti-Asian
sentiments, along with misogyny, are rooted in
policies such as the Page Act in 1875, which imposed
a ban on Asian women due to xenophobic
fears of sexual immorality.
Asian-American advocates held a vigil in response to the Atlanta shootings.
“That was the very fi rst legislation enacted
by Congress to exclude Asians, specifi cally Chinese
women who were thought to be engaged in
sex work,” Park said. “The insidious assumption
that all trans women are sex workers was also
the assumption that white people had about
Chinese immigrant women in the 1800s.”
All of these issues contribute to a culture of
silence among Asian American communities,
Park said. She said many racist incidences
against Asian Americans often go unreported
due to a lack of media attention and recording
of these crimes. While this can make it even
more diffi cult for Asian-Americans to seek help
when they need it, she said it’s just as common
for people within the community to “defer to authority.”
“The police are authorities,” she said. “So it’s
probably inevitable that we will hear calls from
community leaders for more policing.”
Since the shooting occurred, the NYPD’s
Counterterrorism Unit has deployed more police
to Asian-American communities. Andrew
Yang, a former presidential candidate who is
now seeking to become the fi rst Asian-American
mayor in New York City, called for more
funding of the NYPD’s Asian Hate Crimes Task
Force during a protest in Chinatown. Some advocates
are concerned that politicians are using
the attacks to further their own political
campaigns.
“Yang is not a progressive,” said Park, who
noted she is not casting a ballot for Yang in the
upcoming Democratic primary election. “We’re
PAULINE PARK
going to see Andrew Yang try to use this to advance
his own mayoral candidacy.”
In the aftermath of the Atlanta attacks, Red
Canary Song, a grassroots collective of Asian
sex workers, released a statement condemning
calls for increased policing. The group’s note
was signed by several LGBTQ and sex work advocacy
groups, including Black Trans Nation,
GAPIMNY — Empowering Queer & Trans Asian
Pacifi c Islanders, and Decrim NY.
“We are concerned that many of those calling
for action in this moment have and will continue
to endorse violence towards Asian sex
workers, massage workers, and survivors,” the
organization said in a statement. “We understand
the pain that motivates our Asian and
Asian-American community members’ call for
increased policing, but we nevertheless stand
against it.”
The group added, “Policing has never been an
effective response to violence because the police
are agents of white supremacy.”
A string of anti-Asian attacks have also occurred
in New York City as of late, including a
case involving an Asian-American mother who
was attacked at a protest condemning these
crimes. While many Asian Americans are still
on edge, others are not shocked by these incidents.
“There is a real fear of physical violence,”
Park said. “Hardly any Asian friends of mine
are surprised because violence against Asian
Americans, especially Asian immigrants, has
been a feature of Asian American Life.”
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