by Yvonne Lau
We are immortal - and we were there! This great event was a fabulous celebration of the intersection of the AANHPI (Asian American-Native Hawaiian-Pacific Islander, formerly AAPI) and LGBTQIA+ communities last month!
AANHPI communities encompass a wide range of ethnicities, cultures, and languages, reflecting the diverse heritage of the Asia-Pacific region including, but not limited to Korea, China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, celebrated every May, recognizes and celebrates the history, culture, and contributions Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islander Americans have made to the United States.
The LGBTQIA+ community is of course well-established and celebrated in the Bay Area, and I couldn’t say it better than the organizers of why this event was in San Francisco Chinatown: “Chinatown is profoundly queer—not just in identity, but in existence. Its queerness stands as an act of defiance against racism, displacement, and corporate encroachment. This history runs deep through San Francisco's cultural fabric, inspiring an "immortality" that lives on in those who continue our fight against erasure.
At a time when LGBTQIA+ and immigrant rights are under attack, Chinatown Pride 2025 stands as a force of resistance and solidarity. This year's theme, "We are Immortal!" is a declaration on transformation, reinvention, and the refusal to be anything but unapologetically alive.”
My sister Eva came with me, and we enjoyed performances from the GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance (formerly GAPA https://www.gapa.org/),a grassroots organization which helped establish the SF Community Health Center, and the Rice Rockettes, San Francisco’s premier Asian & Pacific Islander Drag Queen Troupe https://www.instagram.com/ricerockettes/. Inside the Hilton Hotel ballroom, there were hands-on art projects, community education and lots of advocacy organizations represented. Eva and I had a fun and very illuminating chat with Drag Queens Juicy and Imelda, dedicated political activists for the community. The amount of advocacy work they do is just incredible, and you can learn more here: https://www.qtapisf.org/.
We also had a great time at our first “Silent Disco”- wearing headphones, we danced on the pedestrian bridge that links the Hilton Hotel to Chinatown’s Portsmouth Square. I thought I would feel silly, but being surrounded by other people doing the same thing, all celebrating love and tolerance was liberating and profoundly healing. It was also slightly surreal and full-circle to be joyfully dancing under the stars on a bridge we ran around on as kids 50 years ago!
Learn more about this event and subscribe to the Chinese Culture Center to be notified of next year’s festivities: https://www.cccsf.us/post/chinatown-pride-2025. Happy Pride month!
