We need this for those LGBT people who have been in the U.S. since child

Seattle, WA

Transgress

Transform Transcend

was the theme of NQAPIA’s national LGBT AAPI activist conference, held on August 14–16, 2009 in Seattle, The three-day conference was a remarkable opportunity for 250 LGBT AAPI activists across the country to come together, recharge, learn, and strategize.

Pa rticipants ra ved about the empowering, safe, culturally affirming, and politically progressive space. Just being together was transformative.

Ninety workshops and speakers increased awareness on current issues confronting LGBT AAPIs. Topics covered civil rights, skills building, health and wellness, culture, identity, and organizing. Caucuses based on geography, ethnicity, and for women, youth, bisexual, transgender, and multiracial Asians helped people to connect. The keynote speakers included Dakota, a youth spoken word performer, Mala and Vega, South Asian activists and plaintiffs in Washington’s marriage equality lawsuit, Mia Mingus, a disabled Korean adoptee leading a major reproductive justice organization in The South, and a panel of leaders from allied national organizations, including the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, Al-Fatiha Foundation, and Audre Lorde Project.

We need [immigration

reform] for those LGBT people who have been in the U.S. since