Gay Activism in Asian and Asian-American Churches

By Kwok Pui-lan

On May 17, same-sex marriage became legal in the state of Massachusetts. In the next several weeks, I will attend the weddings of several lesbian friends and colleagues. Since the Massachusetts state Supreme Judicial Court ruled last November that same-sex couples have the legal right to marry, the issue has aroused heated debates in the church and society. But the voices of Asian communities and churches in America have scarcely been heard.

The media has provided broad coverage of Third World church leaders chastising homosexuality and the ordination of gay persons to the priesthood. . . What is under-reported is the growing gay activism in both Asia and Asian America, especially among Christian communities.

When the Lambeth Conference in 1998 debated the issue of homosexuality, some African and Asian bishops spoke vehemently against it. The consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson as the first openly gay bishop has further divided the Anglican Communion. The media has provided broad coverage of Third World church leaders chastising homosexuality and the ordination of gay persons to the priesthood. It has created a monolithic impression that Christians in other parts of the world are conservative and uniformly against gay rights.

What is under-reported is the growing gay activism in both Asia and Asian America, especially among Christian communities.

On May 2, 2004, Tseng Shu-min, an openly gay man, was ordained a minister of Tong Kwang Presbyterian Church in Taipei, Taiwan. He has been a pastor for five years of this independent church, which is open and affirming for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons. Taiwan's gay and lesbian groups applauded the ordination as a “milestone” in the improvement of human rights in the island. On November 1, 2003, about 1000 people from some 22 homosexual groups participated in the first gay march in Taiwan, waving rainbow banners to campaign for the legislation of same-sex marriages and the right for gay couples to adopt children. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party has been pressed to include gay rights as part of the Human Rights Basic Law.

In Hong Kong, homosexuality was first debated in the mid-1980s, resulting in the “decriminalization” of homosexual behavior, because under colonial laws at the time, male homosexual activity was illegal and could be punished by life in prison. Just as in the case of Taiwan, many people in Hong Kong saw gay rights as part of human rights, especially with the imminent return of Hong Kong to China. Gay and lesbian Christians formed the Blessed Minority Christian Fellowship , which organizes alternative worship services and Bible studies. In August 2003, gay activists in Hong Kong staged a protest against the Vatican's stance on homosexuality during Sunday Mass at the cathedral. In the wake of the controversial protest, Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun agreed to meet with leaders of gay organizations and continue the dialogue.

Safehaven is a group of Singaporean Christians of different age groups, backgrounds, and religious traditions who have been meeting for prayers and sharing since 1998. It provides a forum for gay, lesbian, and bisexual Christians to develop their spirituality and to discuss issues about faith and sexuality. Last summer when some churches in Singapore carried out a combative and homophobic campaign against gays and lesbians, Safehaven issued an open letter to the National Council of Churches of Singapore, calling the churches to affirm the dignity and humanity of gay persons.

In the Philippines, Fr. Richard Mickley, the superior of the Order of St. Aelred, officiated the wedding of a gay couple in Baguio City last November. He had reportedly officiated more than 100 weddings of gay and lesbian couples in the past seven years. Although the Catholic Church remains firm in its mandate not to bless same-sex unions, Filipino gay men and lesbians are seeking wider recognition in the church and society. Fellowships for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons have also been formed recently in Korea and Japan to provide a place for networking and pastoral care.

The development of gay activism in these Asian countries has been widely reported in ethnic newspapers in America. For example, The World Journal , the largest Chinese newspaper in the United States, covered both the gay march in Taiwan and the public protest in the Hong Kong cathedral.

Gay activism in North America is most vibrant in cities with a large Asian population, such as San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Montreal. Organizations such as the Gay Asian Pacific Support Network , Gay Asian Pacific Alliance , Gay Asian Pacific Islander Men of New York , and South Asian Lesbian and Gay Asians of New York offer social support, foster self-empowerment, as well as provide resources for coming out, health issues, and HIV/AIDS.

In Asian communities in America, sexuality is rarely discussed in public because it is considered a private issue. This separation between the public and private leads to greater tolerance for gay and lesbian behavior when they are kept out of the public gaze. However, it also makes it harder for gay men and lesbians to come out to their families and friends as it is against cultural norms to do so. According to interviews conducted by Connie S. Chan ( “Issues of Identity and Development among Asian-American Lesbians and Gay Men,” in Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Male Experiences , Linda D. Garnets and Douglas C. Kimmel, eds., N.Y.: Columbia University Press, 1993) , many gay men and lesbians find it difficult to talk to their parents and families about their sexual orientation, though they may come out to their close friends. There is a saying that “When Asian American children come out, their parents go into the closet.” In order to offer support and education for the families, the organization Asian and Pacific Islander Family Pride was formed in California.

Gay activism is gaining momentum among Christian communities in Asian America. In March 2004, the group Pacific, Asian, and North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry devoted its annual meeting to discussing sexual diversity and embodiment for the first time in its 20-year history. Christian and Jewish Asian American women shared their coming out experiences and their struggles in their seminaries and churches. Faculty advisors Rita Nakashima Brock and I challenged the churches to rethink the meaning of marriage and to recognize the gifts gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people bring to the church.

In the Metropolitan Community Church , the Rev. Patrick Cheng is instrumental in bringing Asian-American voices to the life of the church and to the wider gay and lesbian movement. A lawyer by profession and currently a doctoral student at Union Theological Seminary, he is writing a dissertation on Asian-American gay theology. He has set up a website and a listserv for queer Asians and their allies , with members in the United States, Britain, and many Asian countries. At a recent queer Asian Pacific American conference held in March 2004 at New York University, attended by over 400 participants, he spoke about the Christian experience of queer Asian Americans and discussed their spiritual concerns.

Although gay activism has made some inroads in the Asian-American churches, much education and conscientization needs to be done in the future. In San Francisco, several thousand Asian Americans, including many from Chinese-American churches, marched in April 2004 to protest against legalization of same-sex marriage. A recent Chinese Christian newspaper in New York carried a full issue of anti-gay articles.

The Rev. Leng Lim , a gay Asian Episcopal priest . . . said: “We'll move forward in fits and starts. There's the way of compassionate learning, where we have our hearts open to those we don't agree with. That's the way of Jesus and Confucius, who said, in their different ways: Do (not do) to others, what you would (not) have others do to you.”

In the Episcopal Church USA, the issues of Asian gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons remain invisible. But it is important to remember the slow progress that the churches have made. The Rev. Leng Lim , a gay Asian Episcopal priest who married his husband Hung Ngugen in San Francisco, said: “We'll move forward in fits and starts. There's the way of compassionate learning, where we have our hearts open to those we don't agree with. That's the way of Jesus and Confucius, who said, in their different ways: Do (not do) to others, what you would (not) have others do to you. I never intended to get married, because I thought it wasn't possible. I had so accommodated myself to being second-class, just like so many immigrants in their own ways. But when I did, the most amazing words to our ears, was to hear from the Officer of the Peace, an ex-Roman Catholic priest, gay of course, say to us: ‘The State of California and the People of California proclaim you spouses for life.' I felt like a full citizen. That was wonderful.”

Dr. Kwok Pui-lan is Professor of Christian Theology and Spirituality at the Episcopal Divinity School. Her book Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology is forthcoming from Westminster Press. She may be reached by email at pkwok@episdivschool.edu.