From: shaw@cobra.lcs.mit.edu (Andy Shaw)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american
Subject: Re: Homosexuality/Bisexuality
Date: 18 Dec 92 18:02:30
Organization: MIT Lab for Computer Science, Cambridge, Mass.
	<1992Dec17.214324.10738@almserv.uucp>
	<1992Dec18.195854.26328@oakhill.sps.mot.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: cobra.ai.mit.edu
In-reply-to: rjchou@oakhill.sps.mot.com's message of Fri, 18 Dec 1992 19:58:54 GMT

In article <1992Dec18.195854.26328@oakhill.sps.mot.com> rjchou@oakhill.sps.mot.com (Ri Jen Chou) writes:
   g9utxu@fnma.COM (Tanin Uthayanaka) writes:
   >Now that there seems to some interest in this subject. I would like to
   >know how and when can you tell that you are homosexual/bisexual? 
   >Carole M. mention that she was a product of surrondings and self awareness 
   >(I think that's what she said, I can't remember). Is this always the case ?
   >Curiosity from a Heterosexual ?
   >TU 

   <deleted: Ri-Jen's explanation of homosexual/bisexual feelings>

Good luck to those of you sorting out your sexuality, but I think this has
drifted off the topic of this newsgroup.  If you have questions not
specific to being an Asian-American gay about this topic, I suggest reading
"soc.motss".

To bring this topic back to Asian-American relevance, I find it a bit
surprising that I have the same revulsion to the concept of "rice queens"
and "potato queens", that I do to the usual WM/AF, AM/WF "fetish" stuff.  I
don't think it is because I feel that I own all Asian gays and lesbians (as
is the usual white boy response to complaints of Asian fetishism by Asian
men: "you think you own all Asian women, you chauvinist Oriental pig" ...
with the subtext usually being "but in fact, *I* do because I'm more
'enlightened' and treat them right".  Uh huh.).  The notion of white men
looking for submissive young gay Asian men, and white lesbians having the
same "lotus blossom" stereotypes of Asian women is identically disturbing.

The question in the end is again, power, and the relationship of power to
sex.  Who is being fucked, and who is doing the fucking?  I think there is
this preconception out there that gay sex and gay relationships are
automatically inassailable, because they aren't
straight/vanilla/capitalist/oppressor, etc.  But clearly, gay relationships
can carry the same racist/oppressive/self-hating baggage that straight ones
do.  Gay white men and women can be just as racist, stereotyping, and
ignorant as straight white men and women, and gay Asian men and women can
be just as self-hating, media-brainwashed as straight Asian men and women.
[No implications about anyone in particular who has posted on the subject
-- just a general observation.]

One problem I can see easily arising is that being Asian and gay, it is
easy to be overwhelmed by the "white" gay culture, since gay culture is
already a small and embattled subculture, and white gays will obviously
outnumber the gays of color in the States.  Asian gays could easily think
that being gay means being "white gay", and buy into gay versions of the
same tired stereotypes that already exist in straight culture.

Another potential problem is the false dichotomy of having a choice of
being either "Asian" or "gay".  Clearly, it's possible to be both, but I
guess that being a member of a minority within a minority pushes things in
that direction.

In the end, I suppose I'm saying that being gay doesn't seem to be all that
different from being straight, from the viewpoint of sexual dynamics and
being Asian, except that it's probably easier to be deluded into *thinking*
that it's different.

-Andy
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american