May 06, 2005  | COMMENTS     

Before the bells, costumes and floats that signal Capital Pride sweep into town next month, gay Asian Americans in D.C. are celebrating Pride & Heritage, as part of Asian Pacific Heritage Month in May.

Gay Washingtonians from three local Asian and Pacific Islander groups are introducing a new component to the month-long celebration this year to recognize what it means to be gay and Asian, particularly in a city whose population is predominantly black, white and Latino.

As part of the 6th annual Pride & Heritage, organizers for the first time have scheduled an awards ceremony to honor gay civil rights advocates.

“The awards ceremony is our marquee event,” says Ben de Guzman, a member of the Pride & Heritage’s planning committee. “We are building an institution here to say this is ongoing and this is going to be the one thing that the community does together.”

Pride & Heritage is sponsored by: API Queer Sisters, an organization for gay Asian and Pacific Islander women in D.C.; API Queer United for Action, a group that predominantly caters to Asian men and works to promote advocacy, education, outreach and social events in D.C.; and KhushDC, a support, social and political group for gays who have ties to South Asia. Pride & Heritage events also are being planned in collaboration with the D.C. Men of Asia Prevention Study, a group that focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention geared toward gay Asian men.

The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on May 21, at Cada Vez, a club in Northwest D.C.

“In previous years we held more cultural celebrations,” says Rebecca Sawyer, an advocate for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, who is also on the organizing committee of this year’s events. “This year, as a reflection of the growth of our communities, we felt it was time to look within and honor those contributions of community members and allies.”

Honorees this year are John Tinpe, a gay activist and chair of D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams’ Advisory Commission on Asian/Pacific Islander Affairs. He also owns Burma Restaurant at 740 Sixth St., NW.

The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) will also be honored for its work in the gay civil rights arena. The local chapter of the D.C. based national nonprofit organization includes a lesbian, bisexual and transgender task force that addresses issues of importance to gay Asian American women.

“[The Forum} was one of a handful of primarily straight APA organizations that took a stand for marriage equality last year and recognized that the issue of LGBT equality is a civil rights issue,” Sawyer says.