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.
