The Perth gay Asian community is rarely seen out there. It begs the question whether it actually exists, or even needs to exist when it comes to a presence, and any education and resources that might be needed.

Recently I had an interesting conversation with a friend about the difficulties he’d encountered in meeting an Asian ‘Mr Right’ within the Perth gay community. Things like: ‘It’s too hard to communicate with them; they don’t even understand what I am saying half the time; it’s just too much work; they are way too passive and fit those stereotypes that many of us have about Asian men; they are all too skinny’.

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I turned around and asked my friend: ‘Do you think I fit into any of those stereotypes??’
He replied, ‘You are different, except the skinny bit, you hardly see gay Asians like you here in Perth’.

Although it was a bit of an instant ego boost for me, my internal analytical voice kicked right in. We do have a rather large gay Asian population, but I actually don’t believe that we have a gay Asian community in Perth. Without a gay Asian community, how are we going to fight those common stereotypes? And if we don’t fight them, who else will?

Currently, it does feel like gay Asians are a rather fractured and scattered group. We are all doing our own things, talking about the stereotypes in our own little circles and maybe feeling that we are being treated differently. At least that’s what I have been doing with my friends.

I have always felt that I have assimilated into, and become well adjusted in, the dominant Australian culture and therefore I was reluctant to see myself as anything other than a gay man.

But the truth is I am not just a gay man. Without the mainstream community acknowledging the existence of a gay Asian community and each of us recognising that it is possible to have a gay Asian community here in Perth, we will struggle to be accepted and therefore the negative stereotypes will always be there.

Project X’s ConversASIANS is a 3-week course that aims to provide participants with a safe, confidential and non-judgemental space to discuss issues experienced by Asians with a same sex attraction living in Perth.

The next ConversASIANS course starts on September 21 and is open to Asian men aged over 18 with a same sex attraction. Please contact gtsai@waaids.com or call 9482 0000 to register early to avoid disappointment!

Gavin Tsai, WA AIDS Council Workshop Coordinator

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