GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance
Formation1988 (1988)
HeadquartersSan Francisco, CA, U.S.
Region
United States
Chairman
Howard Chan
Vice Chairman
Rachel Cheng
Secretary
Danny Wan
Treasurer
Jacob Lee
WebsiteGAPA.org

The GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance (formerly the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance), sometimes GAPA,[1][2] is a 501(c)(4) non-profit social welfare organization that was incorporated in February 1988 in San Francisco, California, as a social support group for gay and bisexual Asian Pacific Islander (API) men.[3] It engages in direct social, cultural and political advocacy, with a vision of "a powerful queer and transger Asian and Pacific-Islander (QTAPI) community that is seen, heard, and celebrated," and a mission "to unite our families and allies to build a community through advocacy, inclusion, and love."[4]

History

Established in 1988 after months of discussion from several members of the Asian Gay Men's Support Group at Berkeley's Pacific Center for Human Growth, GAPA was formed fundamentally to organize, integrate, and nurture a growing gay and bisexual Asian and Pacific Islander (API) identity and to foster positive role models within the community.[5] Since then, GAPA continues as a vanguard for the queer and transgender API community in the San Francisco Bay Area, helping to build institutions like the San Francisco Community Health Center, formerly (until 2018) the API Wellness Center (formed in 1996 by the merger of the Asian AIDS Project [founded in 1987] and the GAPA Community Health Project [founded in 1989]),[6][7] and GAPA Runway, one of the longest running SF pageants.[8] Over the years, GAPA has produced shows, concerts, conferences, political engagements, rallies, press releases, and banquets, with the goal of directly engaging in social, cultural and political advocacy to advance and protect the QTAPI community's interests and well-being.[9] In 2021, the organization voted to rename itself from the "Gay Asian Pacific Alliance" to the "GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance".[1]

GAPA Runway

Each year since 1988, GAPA has produced Runway, a campy pageant that crowns the next Mr. and Miss GAPA[10] who act as representatives of GAPA.[11] In 2017, GAPA Runway took place at Herbst Theatre while a small collection of white supremacists was being run out of San Francisco.[12] From 2010 until 2019, Runway was hosted and produced by the GAPA Foundation, rebranded in 2020 as the Prism Foundation, a separate 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that empowers the Asian/Pacific Islander LGBTQ community by providing financial assistance to API LGBTQ students applying to or currently attending post-secondary institutions and providing core funding to under-resourced and under-represented San Francisco Bay Area community organizations and projects.[13] Since then, GAPA has resumed hosting and producing Runway; due to COVID-19 health restrictions, this will be a virtual event in 2020.[14]

GAPA Men's Chorus

In 1989, the GAPA Men's Chorus was founded as a social and musical outlet for members.[15] In November 2015, the GAPA Men's Chorus participated in "Hand in Hand Taipei," the first pan-Asian LGBT choir festival, and in April 2019 in "Hand in Hand Tokyo," [16] sponsored by Proud Voices Asian LGBT choir network.[17] In December 2016, the chorus was invited to sing the national anthem at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, for the Golden State Warriors.[18] The GAPA Men's Chorus has been led by music director, Randall Kikukawa, since 1991, and has been a member of GALA Choruses (Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses) since 1999.[19] Since September 2019, GAPA Men's Chorus has also operated under the GAPA Fund, a separate 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on funding cultural activities and the arts.[20] The late Mayor Ed Lee proclaimed May 15, 2015, Gay Asian Pacific Alliance Men's Chorus Day in San Francisco on the occasion of the chorus' 25th anniversary concert.[21]

GAPA Theatre

GAPA Theatre[22] provides queer and transgender Asian and Pacific Islander men a place to tell their stories and, in doing so, to reach out for support, express their desires, respond to the social, cultural, sexual, and political discourse, or to simply be and feel heard. GAPA Theatre members attempt to connect more deeply with themselves, and in turn, connect more deeply with others and their community.[23]

GAPA Social

GAPA Social provides social events for members, including volleyball, hiking, and TGIF (Thank GAPA It's Friday) happy hours, among other events.[24]

GAPA PAC

GAPA PAC is a political action committee, sponsored by GAPA to provide monetary contributions in elections and other politically centered events. GAPA PAC provides scholarships to encourage up and coming leaders in the community to gain skills needed to serve publicly or win campaigns, makes election endorsements, and mobilizes members to come out and vote.[25]

Other activities

In 1994, GAPA participated in the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco's Chinatown District, wearing sweatshirts with the phrase "We are one family" written in Chinese. Members of GAPA carried a 25-foot lavender Godzilla.[26]

Current GAPA Chair Michael Nguyen explains how GAPA's purpose has broadened to advocate for anyone within the LGBTQ API community in the Bay Area.[27]

On March 21, 2021, in response to the mass murders of Asian women in massage parlors in the Atlanta area and in response to the ongoing violence against Asian lives in the Bay Area,[28] GAPA organized an LGBTQ Solidarity March for Asian Lives from the Castro to Chinatown.[29]

On May 18, 2021, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution officially declaring May 22–29, 2021, the nation's first QTAPI (Queer Transgender Asian Pacific Islander) Week in the City and County of San Francisco.[30] Current GAPA Chair Michael Nguyen, co-founder of the Bay Area QTAPI Coalition in 2017,[31] was the lead organizer of the week-long series of live and virtual events.[32]

Affiliations

References

  1. 1 2 "About Us". GAPA. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  2. ↑ Gay Asian Pacific Alliance, 2018. https://www.gapa.org
  3. ↑ Gregory M. Herek, Beverly Greene, May 9, 1995. AIDS, Identity, and Community, SAGE, ISBN 0-8039-5360-7 (cloth), ISBN 0-8039-5361-5 (paper), also available at https://books.google.com/books?id=vYE5DQAAQBAJ&dq=%22GAPA%22+Gay+Asian+Pacific+Alliance&pg=PA115
  4. ↑ GAPA https://gapa.org/
  5. ↑ GAPA.org https://gapa.org/about-us
  6. ↑ API Wellness Center https://www.apiwellness.org/history.html
  7. ↑ San Francisco Community Health Center https://sfcommunityhealth.org/program/the-connection/
  8. ↑ GAPA Runway https://www.ebar.com/news/local/184660
  9. ↑ "About us".
  10. ↑ Hua, Vanessa, SFGATE.com, San Francisco Chronicle, (2001). Storming the Stage / Pageant is gay Asians' chance to bust out, available at https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/STORMING-THE-STAGE-Pageant-is-gay-Asians-2900371.php
  11. ↑ Junn, Alex (2018). Elders through the lens Mr. GAPA available at http://efniks.com/elders-through-the-lens/2018/2/16/elders-through-the-lens-mr-gapa
  12. ↑ Spotswood, Beth, San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 30, 2017. LGBTQ Asian Pacific Islanders get a splash of pageantry available at https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/LGBTQ-Asian-Pacific-Islanders-get-a-splash-of-12162019.php
  13. ↑ Prism Foundation https://theprismfoundation.org/rebrand
  14. ↑ GAPA Runway https://gapa.org/runway
  15. ↑ GAPA Men's Chorus https://www.gapa.org/about-us#historyandpeople
  16. ↑ Hand in Hand Taipei 2015 http://asia.proudvoices.org/handinhandpast-EN.html
  17. ↑ Proud Voices Asian http://asia.proudvoices.org/default.html
  18. ↑ GAPA Men's Chorus at the Golden State Warriors Game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5Qtnfc8aEU
  19. ↑ GAPA Men's Chorus https://www.gapa.org/chorus-members
  20. ↑ GAPA Fund https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.profile&ein=842621586
  21. ↑ "GAPA Men's Chorus on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on 2022-04-27.
  22. ↑ GAPA Theatre https://www.gapa.org/gapa-theatre
  23. ↑ Finding Your Voice by GAPA Theatre, available at https://www.bindlestiffstudio.org/calendar/daluyan-emodied-storytelling-zmfxm-c72ag-7t6ct
  24. ↑ GAPA Social https://www.gapa.org/social
  25. ↑ GAPA PAC https://www.gapa.org/pac
  26. ↑ Chiou-ling Yeh, 2008. Making an American Festival: Chinese New Year in San Francisco's Chinatown, ISBN 978-0-520-25351-3, also available at https://books.google.com/books?id=7RwBDcc4CM8C&dq=%22GAPA%22+Gay+Asian+Pacific+Alliance&pg=PA174
  27. ↑ Bajko, Matthew S. Bay Area Reporter, Mar. 9, 2017. Gay API group welcomes patent attorney as new leader available at https://issuu.com/bayareareporter/docs/march_9_2017
  28. ↑ Laird, Cynthia, Bay Area Reporter, Mar. 19, 2021. GAPA to host solidarity rally in the Castro Sunday after violence against AAPIs, available at https://www.ebar.com/news/latest_news/303147
  29. ↑ Betty Yu, KPIX, Mar. 21, 2021. San Francisco Rallies Bring Diverse Communities Together to Condemn Asian Hate, available at https://news.yahoo.com/san-francisco-rally-brings-diverse-003200408.html
  30. ↑ Bajko, Matthew, Bay Area Reporter, May 18, 2021. SF to mark nation's first LGBTQ API Week, available at https://www.ebar.com/news/latest_news//305060
  31. ↑ San Francisco to declare country's first Queer and Transgender Asian and Pacific Islanders (QTAPI) Week May 22nd-May 29th, available at https://www.eriegaynews.com/news/article.php?recordid=202106sfqtapi
  32. ↑ Sasmazel, Zeynep, Hornet, May 21, 2021. San Francisco Announces the First Queer and Transgender Asian and Pacific Islanders (QTAPI) Week, available at https://hornet.com/stories/countrys-first-qtapi-week/
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