Lecture explores homophobia in Asian American families

For many individuals identifying as homosexual, the process of coming out - publicly declaring their sexual orientation to friends or family - can be an understandably nerve-wracking one. But to what degree does the intersection of racial and sexual identity interfere with this process, and how is this interference unique for people of Asian descent?

Continuing with its semester-long "Out to Lunch" lecture series yesterday afternoon, the Rainbow Center hosted speaker Angela Rola. In a lecture entitled "Coming Out: Dealing with Homophobia in Asian American Families," Rola, who is also the founding director of UConn's Asian American Cultural Center, explained the particular set of challenges facing Asian Americans desiring to come out to their families.

Rola admitted that the amount of research done in the area of Asian LGBT studies is still small, calling the field "relatively new territory."

But before examining the experiences of Asian members of the LGBT community, Rola stressed that her use of the term "Asian" does not imply a uniformity of experience for "a host of people from very different, disparate groups." Every culture is different, as is every family, although Rola suggested that a shared "history of war" helps to tie them together.

Rola described how many Asian Americans struggle to form a cultural identity in a society that is not predominantly Asian, and explained that students of color tend to go through six stages of understanding their culture: conformity, dissonance, immersion, emersion, internalization and integrative awareness. These steps outline a tumultuous and emotional process where the student first tries to fit in with the dominant culture before changing his or her worldview and consequentially taking steps to define himself or herself as Asian American.

Rola showed a short film, "Love, Ltd.," in which two siblings try to come out to their family during dinner while their traditionally-minded mother attempts to keep order. She then launched a discussion about the film's depiction of traditional Asian family roles, and how these roles colored both the characters' relationships with one another and how they discussed homosexuality.

Rola said that many Asian people's concern over shaming their families puts a strain on the issue of confidentiality. The family unit was explained to be central to many Asian people, and that the expectation to adhere to rigid familial roles can impede the discussion of issues like a family member's homosexuality.

Rola also underlined some Asian families' use of "coded language" when discussing family members who either are or are believed to be homosexual, which serves to "deny and disqualify" the importance of such matters. She added that it is important for such practices to be challenged.