I first started noticing a pretty noticeable increase of obviously straight Asian people entering the Castro, the most famous LGBT neighborhood in San Francisco, a couple of years ago as tour buses would drop tourists off, take pictures of all the gay people, then leave. Apparently, I haven’t been the only one to notice, as SFgate.com has reported that the increase in tourists is being seen as a nuisance in the Castro, primarily since they’re seen as gawking, and not adding to the Castro economy.
It’s funny to see how these tourists react when they see queer Asians, particularly queer Asian men. I think there’s a perception that being queer is still seen as a white thing, despite the increasingly politically and socially active queer rights movements that are occurring all over the Asian continent. I remember when the husband and I happened to run into friends of ours who are also a queer Asian male couple right in front of Castro & Market along with their newly adopted son. The look of utter shock and disbelief on the tourists’ faces was pretty amusing, and they were doing their best to be sly as they tried to take pictures of us. Of course, we deliberately hammed it up for the tourists, kissing in front of them and acting stereotypically gay in front of them.
It’s funny to see how all the white people are reacting to this, thinking that the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence could put a stop to it. If anything, it’s exactly what the tourists wanna see. Really, all you need to do is have a whole bunch of queer Asian boys who are fluent in Chinese to start coming on to all the guys who are of legal age — in front of their parents. That would put a stop to the tourists real quick.
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John wrote:
To be honest, I didn’t know any gay Asian American men or women until I moved to the Bay Area (though I did have some gay friends, including a high school and college friend that came out of the closet).
Posted on 19-Aug-08 at 9:00 pm | Permalink
Jen wrote:
how silly…the tourists don’t like the gays at home, but go out of their way to take photos of the gays at castro
Posted on 20-Aug-08 at 6:25 am | Permalink
Grace Chu wrote:
“I think there’s a perception that being queer is still seen as a white thing”
it certainly was in the 90s. i realize that, despite knowing tons of queers in college, i knew ZERO out asian americans that went to my college. but there were plenty that came out after college! 10th year reunion was like a coming out party for all the asian queers.
Posted on 20-Aug-08 at 8:32 am | Permalink
Did anyone else notice that the SF Chronicle went out of their way to not say Asian Tourists as to not be pegged as being racist?
Trust me, they’re talking about Asian tourists; I’ve live five blocks away now and there are definitely buses of Asian tourists as they walk around. I think it’s because Castro is seen as colorful (flags) and for the most part, safe (gays are inappropriate and fabulous, but they’re not shooting people in broad daylight like they are eight blocks away in the Mission)
Posted on 20-Aug-08 at 8:58 am | Permalink
Efren wrote:
Ernie, totally. That’s why I had to put in the caveat that ALL these tourists were Asian, and why I felt either you or I had to post something about it.
I found it totally hilarious that there was NO mention of race in the article at all, and I think that it should be discussed (at least among us) because if anything, it shows how much homophobia is still out there in Asia (and in the Asian American community here also, sigh) and how being queer is seen as cool as long as it’s not one of “us”. Then it becomes a problem/issue.
Posted on 20-Aug-08 at 10:58 am | Permalink