High-ranking Filipino American leaves Biden administration; Indian American confirmed to AF post

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Gina Ortiz Jones leaves the post she held since 2021.

One of the highest-ranking Filipino Americans in President Biden's administration has left her post as Under Secretary of the Air Force.

After instituting a string of reforms vastly improving the diversity of the US Air Force, Gina Ortiz Jones stepped down from her office Marce 6. 

Also, in another personnel action unrelated to Jones' departure, earlier this week the Senate confirmed Ravi Chaudhary to be the Air Force Assistant Secretary for Energy.

"Throughout her tenure, Under Secretary Jones has been a tireless advocate for the Department of the Air Force and its people," Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in the press release Monday. "Her leadership in enabling all airmen, Guardians, and their families to serve to their full potential and providing the resources they need has enhanced the readiness of the Air and Space Force for years to come."

The Air Force didn't say why Ortiz Jones is leaving her office and Jones herself was mum about her departure leaving a single statement on social media thanking President Biden for having be part of his administration. 

In a recent interview with Verve Times, she said it seemed like a natural time to go, and that she’s ready for a break after working 12- to 14-hour days on “really meaty, meaty issues” that affect military personnel.

Although she didn't specify what her next step would be, Jones said, “It will always be related to public service.”

She pushed through some of the most significant diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the Defense Department, and did so by espousing a pretty simple idea: It’s crucial for military recruitment, retention and readiness.

Jones, a member of the LGBTQ community, served in the Air Force under the military's old "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" discriminatory policy, which allowed non-heterosexual service members to stay in the ranks if they remained closeted.

In her role as under secretary, the Iraq war veteran helped push a wide variety of reforms aimed at making life in uniform easier for women, minorities and parents.

This past September, Jones spearheaded a policy change that allowed pregnant service members and civilians to apply for Air Force Officer Training School, reversing the service's previous rules that barred candidates from going through the program until 12 months postpartum.

Almost a year ago, she issued a statement reminding service members that the Air Force could help protect them from anti-LGBTQ state initiatives, such as one in Texas that raised the possibility of child welfare investigations against parents with transgender children. The guidance Jones issued said the service would use medical, legal and other resources to support its personnel who run into such problems.

“We are closely tracking state laws and legislation to ensure we prepare for and mitigate effects to our airmen, guardians and their families,” Jones said, using “guardians” as the official shorthand for members of the U.S. Space Force. “Medical, legal resources and various assistance are available for those who need them.”

Additionally, this past August, Jones helped set new demographic goals in hopes of getting more diverse applicants for the service's officer corps, which has historically leaned toward white males.

Under those new goals, the Air Force and Space Force aim to have 36% of their officers be women, up from the previous target of 30% nearly a decade ago.

"We're in a race for talent, and our policies need to reflect that," Jones said in a press release regarding the OTS change. "This policy change will ensure we're able to fully tap into the talent amongst our force, as well as those looking to join us."

Ortiz Jones oversees the department’s $173 billion annual budget and directs strategy and policy development, risk management, weapons acquisition, technology investments and human resource management across the service.

She also ran a vigorous campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Texas' 23rd District in 2018 and 2020. Jones, a Democrat, ended up closely losing both races.

The former Air Force intelligence officer’s duties will be taken over by Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller Kristyn Jones until a new under secretary is appointed, according to a press release.

Ravi Chaudhary is the US Air Force Assistant Secretary for Energy

Meanwhile, on March 15, the United States Senate confirmed Ravi Chaudhary, an Indian American, as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations, and the Environment. Chaudhary won the mandate with a vote of 65-29, making him one of the top civilian leaders in the Pentagon. He is the first Indian American to serve in this position.

Chaudhary, a former Air Force pilot, will be responsible for the Air Force's sustainability and operational readiness. This includes developing installations and basing strategies, as well as ensuring the quality of military housing.

Chaudhary previously served as a Senior Executive at the US Department of Transportation where he was Director of Advanced Programs and Innovation, Office of Commercial Space at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

He was responsible for the execution of advanced development and research programs in support of the FAA’s commercial space transportation mission.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

UW Press launches new book series: Critical Filipinx Studies

A new book series will examine the lives of the Filipino diaspora, including Filipino Americans and how they impact the rest of the world, with emphasis on LGBTQ and feminist experiences.

Critical Filipinx* Studies is a new book series from the University of Washington Press, edited by Robyn Magalit Rodriguez, founding director of the Bulosan Center for Filipinx Studies. 

Based on cultural studies, ethnic studies, and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, this series is necessarily a feminist and queer project. 

“I’m looking for vibrant interdisciplinary projects or projects rooted in various disciplines, including critical ethnic studies, Asian American studies, history, cultural studies, geography, and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies," says Acquisitions Editor Mike Baccam.

This series lifts up the decolonizing identities and cultural productions of people who claim roots to the Philippines and illuminates how Filipinos in America and across the diaspora experience and imagine their everyday lives.

It emphasizing work by scholar-activists who adopt a stance of care—ethical and political commitment—toward the people whose lives animate their work, it traces interracial solidarities, as fraught as they may be, to disrupt racial capitalism’s impulse to both homogenize and propagate “multicultural” difference.

“I can think of no better partner than the UW Press in launching this historically significant book series in Critical Filipinx Studies. UW has published important texts in Asian American Studies and will continue to be at the cutting edge of Asian American Studies scholarship with this series,” explains Robyn Magalit Rodriguez.

This series will publish books that engage with some of the following questions: What are the experiences of Filipinx migrants and what about these experiences sheds light on the nature of global racial capitalism? How do Filipinx people resist imperial and neocolonial structures and imagine and organize toward non-extractive, regenerative futures? How are Filipinx people represented across multiple forms of media and in what ways do they counter these representations? How do Filipinx people construct an alternative global archipelago of being and belonging?

Proposals for single-authored books across disciplines, from monographs to other compelling nonfiction books that appeal to a broader audience, are welcome for submission. The UW Press will also consider groundbreaking anthologies. Queries may be sent to Robyn at robyn@drrobynrodriguez.com and to Mike at mbaccam@uw.edu.

"I’m also particularly drawn to books that are theoretically rich but accessible to readers outside of academia. I’d love for these books to be on the shelves at local independent bookstores and public libraries,” adds Baccam.

* Out of respect for the originators of this press release we use the term "Filipinx" liberally in this article. The term "Filipinx" is a term used among some U.S. academics and progressives who don't want to affix a gender to things and people from the Philippines which, by definition, the Spanish-rooted terms "Filipino" and "Filipina" does. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and tips from an AAPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Tokyo Olympics: Japanese American swimmer wins silver in 1,500 meter race

NBC

Erica Sullivan, left, celebrates with teammate and gold medalist Katie Ledecky.

Usually, all the media's attention is on the gold medal winner, but Erica Sullivan grabbed some of the spotlight after coming in second in the inaugural women's 1,500m freestyle.

Sullivan's Silver Medal finish Wednesday was a surprise and the first person to congratulate the Japanese American was celebrated teammate Katie Ledecky, who finished four seconds ahead of Sullivan.

In the press conference following the race, Sullivan's told the journalists, that she was the "epitome of an American person.

“I’m multicultural. I’m queer. I’m a lot of minorities. That’s what America is,” said the Las Vegas resident. “That’s what America is. To me, America is not about being a majority. It’s about having your own start. The American Dream is coming to a country to establish what you want to do with your life.”

She responded to the Japanese reporters in fluent Japanese, the result of many trips to Japan with her mother,, Maco, who watched her daughter's moment from her Las Vegas home with Erica's younger sister, Nina. Her grandfather, Sullivan said, helped design some of the Olympic facilities.

"It's surprising and it's really cool that everything just happened to line up and work out," Sullivan said on NBC's Today show. "My mom would've loved to be here, but she's at home in Vegas cheering us on."

“Just me getting to be on the podium, in Japan, as an Asian American woman and getting to take silver in a historical women’s event for the first time, as someone who likes women and who identifies as gay — it’s so cool,” she said, via the Post. “It’s awesome.”

After qualifying for the Olympics, she said about Japan, “It’s literally my second home and I love it there. I found that in recent years I tend to identify with my Japanese side more than with my American side.”

Sullivan told Swimming World Magazine, “It wasn’t until I got out of high school and I really started to crave my Asian heritage and culture, and I really honed into it. “Luckily I found a community through anime watchers, and I found my own little network that I grew to love.”

To achieve her Olympic dream, Sullivan, 20, had to overcome anxiety, panic attacks, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in the past few years after her father's death in 2017.

“I’m proud of the mental health barriers that I got through, with my dad dying in 2017 and really hitting a rock bottom in 2018 from the stress of losing a parent at age 16 and having to get over the anxiety, the panic attacks, the depression, the PTSD, all that,” Sullivan told Swimming World Magazine. “I’m so happy that I was able to overcome those.”

"The last five years, I've had a lot of struggles, and I think everyone knows that. It's pretty much (an) open book now," she said in the press conference. "But it feels good to have it all finally pay off, and I really hope I can be like a beacon of hope to anyone who's struggling with mental health or coming out or any minority that they are, to show that there's hope, and honestly me getting to do it here, where half my family is from, means the world."

Chantale Wong, a queer AAPI woman, makes history with Ambassador-level nomination

CHANTALE WONG

President Biden nominated Chantale Wong, for United States Director of the Asian Development Bank  If confirmed to the Senate, Wong would be the first out, queer woman and first LGBTQ+ person of color to serve in an ambassador-level role.

Chantale Yokmin Wong is a leading authority in international development policy with over 30 years of experience in the multi-disciplinary field that includes finance, technology, and the environment, says the White House. 

“Chantale moved the bar as the first out lesbian and first out LGBTQ person of color nominated at an ambassador level, yet this important moment is about more than making history,” said Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Institute. “Chantale will represent the most powerful nation in the Asian Development Bank at a time when many of its member states criminalize LGBTQ people and deny them the right to marry. Her presence and leadership can change perceptions of LGBTQ people among representatives from other nations – potentially inching countries toward more acceptance of LGBTQ citizens."

Wong was appointed by President Obama to serve as Vice President for Administration and Finance and Chief Financial Officer at the Millennium Challenge Corporation where she led change in financial, human capital, and information technology management. 

 She was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the Board of Directors at the Asian Development Bank, representing the United States as the Alternate Executive Director, and overseeing policies and operations. She has held senior career appointments in the Office of Management and Budget, Treasury, NASA, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Among her personal passions are photography and videography, with which she has chronicled the annual Congressional Civil Rights pilgrimages in Alabama with the late Congressman John Lewis. On her Facebook account, Wong also acknowledged  Lewis, who she said illustrated to her the importance of “making good trouble” but even more so “necessary trouble.”

 In  the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, Wong is known for establishing the Conference on APA Leadership, where she has guided young AAPIs for 32 years to seek careers in public service. 

She holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and a Master’s in Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Her undergraduate degree is in Civil and Structural Engineering from the University of Hawaii.

A former resident of Guam, Wong’s nomination was met with excitement by Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero and Lieutenant Governor Josh Tenorio.

“We are proud that President Biden recognizes the talent and abilities of our Guam residents,” they said in a joint statement on July 6. “Her nomination and federal service show our young girls that they too can lead successful careers in the federal government and in male-dominated fields, such as finance and technology.”

Breaking Barriers: Trans Filipino American crowned Miss Nevada USA

Miss Nevada USA, Kataluna Enriquez.

When Kataluna Enriquez was crowned as Miss Nevada USA last Sunday, she made history in more ways than one. Not only was she the first Filipino American to win the title, but she is also the first transgender woman to win the crown.

The 27-year-old beauty queen will also become the first transgender woman to compete in the 2021 Miss USA pageant.

After winning the Nevada pageant, the Las Vegas resident posted on social media: "Huge thank you to everyone who supported me from day one," she wrote. "My community, you are always in my heart. My win is our win. We just made history. Happy pride."

Her victory won praise from the LGBTQ community.

"Kataluna Enriquez being crowned Miss Nevada is a huge win for trans visibility and sends a powerful, but simple message to the world: trans women are women," GLAAD's Head of Talent Anthony, Allen Ramos, said in a statement..

"I'm so proud of Kataluna's trailblazing win especially as a fellow trans Filipina sister," trans model and LGBTQ activist Geena Rocero shared in a statement with E! News. "This win will open doors for all pageant system to continuously advocate for the inclusion of trans women in all pageants not just in America but all over the world."

A 2011 graduate of San Leandro High School in the San Francisco Bay Area, Enriquez began her  modeling career the following year wining several pageants, including rMiss Hayward in the Miss California contest in 2020.

Prior to winning the Miss Nevada USA title, in May of 2021, she also won the crown for Miss Silver State USA.

"I wanted to share my story and present that I was more than just a body," Enriquez  said. "With pageantry, people think it is only about beauty. But it’s how you present yourself, what you advocate."

Washington Spirit player Komi Yokohama comes out as transgender

WASHINGTON SPIRIT

Kumi Yokyama of the Washington Spirit professional soccer team.

Washington Spirit forward Kumi Yokoyama came out as transgender in a video interview on former Japan teammate Yūki Nagasato's YouTube channel.

“I’ve dated several women over the years but I had to stay closeted in Japan,” Yokoyama said in the interview, which was translated by The Japan Times.

“In Japan I’d always be asked if I had a boyfriend, but (in the United States) I’m asked if I have a boyfriend or girlfriend," said Yokoyama, who uses they/them pronouns.

Yokoyama becomes one of the highest-profile Japanese athletes to come out as transgender, saying living in the United States and Germany played a major factor in going public.

“I’ve dated several women over the years but I had to stay closeted in Japan,” Yokoyama said in the interview, which was translated by The Japan Times. “In Japan I’d always be asked if I had a boyfriend, but [in the United States] I’m asked if I have a boyfriend or girlfriend.

“When my girlfriend said there was no reason for me to stay closeted, it really hit me. Coming out wasn’t something I was enthusiastic about, but if I think about my life going forward, it would be harder to live closeted so I found the courage to come out.” 

The 27-year-old said they had top surgery to remove breast tissue seven years ago without hormonal treatments, as taking hormones would have put them at risk of failing doping tests. Yokoyama said they are planning to undergo more gender-affirming procedures once they retire.

“Lately the word ‘LGBTQ’ has become more commonly known in Japan and been covered by the media, but people in my position aren’t able to raise our voices and talk about it,” Yokoyama said. “Japan may be a small country, but if all of us speak up together then we can help raise awareness.”

This season, Yokoyama has played sparingly for the Washington Spirit. The team expressed its support for the player. "We support and are so proud of you Kumi," the team said. "Thank you for showing the world it's ok to embrace who you are!"

Filipino American: MTV gives social media star Bretman Rock his own reality show

Bretman Rock has his own reality show

A Filipino American Youtube vlogger is living the dream of every social media influencer: His social media success has earned Bretman Rock his own reality series ... and like the star's personality, it is a wild ride.

The Hawaii-based Rock, 22, is one of the biggest social media influencers in the world with  over 5 million followers on Twitter and over 15 million followers on Instagram. The social media star and beauty and fashion influencer is the central subject of a new series called “MTV’s Following: Bretman Rock.”

One thing for certain: his show will not be boring. "We can watch only so many reality shows filmed in L.A. It gets boring and repetitive. I don’t think anyone really knows what a content creator’s life is like when they’re away from all the L.A. bullsh*t and mainland stuff. I wanted to bring in more of who I really am and the business side of Bretman Rock onto the show."

The six episode series began this week and will air every Tuesday on MTV’s social platforms for the next several weeks. Rock will be more intimate by take people behind the scenes of his life as an influencer, living on a small Hawaiian island and his new business ventures. 

Rock, who is unabashedly queer, hopes the series will provide his fans with a more extensive look at who he is as a person and influencer. Not shy about sharing his flamboyant lifestyle, an MTV press release notes that the episodes will center on Rock as he balances a new business, the loss of his dad, being an Internet superstar, and his mom's move.

Taping of his show "was interesting because I didn’t think I’d be filming a reality show during the middle of a pandemic,” said Rock, in an interview with CBS Local’s DJ Sixsmith. “It was weird and really new. I think we filmed a great show, even though I don’t feel my nose anymore with all those cotton swabs that have been up there. I’m obviously used to my own cameras pointing towards my face, but I’m not used to other cameras pointing at me for such long periods of time.”

As an immigrant -- he came from the Philippines 15 years ago -- Rock told NBC the bigger goal in taking his talents to MTV was to provide representation — something he lacked growing up and constantly references his Filipino roots. 

Bretman Rock and his mother taping a cooking segment.

He often features his mother in episodes titled "Cooking With My Mom," in which the mother and son cook his Filipino dishes.

In the first episode, he talks to his tearful mother over dinner about her challenges bringing her family from the Philippines to Hawaii.

“I know I'm not the only kid that moved to America and had to live with 30 cousins in one house,” he said. “I kind of just wanted to be like ... other immigrant kids coming to America with nothing but a dream.”

Bretman Rock's series started Monday and will show new episodes  on MTV's YouTube channel every Monday, 4 p.m. EST, for the next five Mondays..

Philippine president pardons U.S. Marine for killing transgender Filipina

GABRIELA FILE PHOTO

The murder of transgender Jennifer Laude became an international cause. Members of 
GABRIELA, a rights group, protested in front of the White House in 2015.

In an about-face, the Philippine government pardoned a U.S. Marine who was serving prison time for killing a transgender Filipina six years ago.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte granted "absolute pardon" to U.S. Marie Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton, clearing the way for his early release from a Philippine prison, announced Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.

"Cutting matters short over what constitutes time served, and since where he was detained was not in the prisoner's control – and to do justice – the President has granted an absolute pardon to Pemberton," Locsin announced in a tweet on Monday, Sept. 7.

The announcement reverses the government position taken on Friday that overturned the scheduled early release. Then, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Pemberton would remain behind bars despite earning good conduct credits that shortened his 10-year sentence to jut six years.

Filipino nationalists and LGBTQ activists denounced the apparent reversal as an appeasement to the United States.

Renato Reyes Jr., of the nationalist group Bayan, said Pemberton's pardon was clearly a political accommodation to the U.S, which has been helping to countering China’s rising aggression in the region, reports the New York Times.

“The absolute pardon comes months after Duterte reversed the early pronouncement of the termination of the V.F.A.,” Reyes said, referring to the Visiting Forces Agreement. “The Philippine president has restored the V.F.A. to please the Americans.”

“The U.S. government had its way again on this issue,” he added. 

Pemberton had been sentenced to 10 years in prison last December 2015 for the killing of Jennifer Laude in a Olongapo City near Subic Bay, a military installation that used to belong to the U.S.

The Marine didn't know that Laude was a transgender Filipina. When he found out after checking into a motel, he became enraged and strangled Laude, according to witnesses.

The murder became an international incident because it affected U.S.-Philippine relations at a time when Duterte was warming the Philiippines' relations with China in order to secure an advantage in negotiations with the U.S. 

Last week, the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court granted an appeal from Pemberton and directed the Philippines Bureau of Corrections to release him.

Joseph Scott Pemberton, left, was convicted for killing Jennifer Laude, right.

The court's decision was based on Pemberton having earned his early release after he was granted full credits of Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) under a Philippine law.

The Laude family's lawyer, Romel Bagares, argued that the law didn't apply to someone under the VFA, as a member of a foreign military.

The intervention of Malacanang, the Philippines' White House, overturned the lower court's order last week and Pemberton, originally from Massachusetts, remained in jail over the weekend. No date has been announced for Pemberton's release.

UP Babaylan, a Philippines-based LGBTQ rights group, issued a statement to the international media co-signed by other rights groups that Duterte's decision sent a "loud and clear message that a Filipino trans woman's life does not matter."

Duterete's decision went viral on social media networks in the Philippines. In one of the most shared tweets, Philippine human rights activist Chel Diokno called the pardon an "affront to Jennifer Laude and her family" and a "big step backward for justice in this case and in our country."

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions. 

Republicans target Texas candidate Gina Ortiz Jones' sexual orientation

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

Texas Congressional candiate Gina Ortiz Jones and her mother, Victorina Ortiz.

ANALYSIS:

Actually, its a surprise that it took this long for the Republicans to attack Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones by focusing on her sexual orientation.

Filipino American Ortiz Jones, who has been campaigning since 2018, is an openly lesbian Democratic candidate for Congress in Texas.

The attack is a sign of desperation for Tony Gonzalez, Ortiz Jones' GOP opponent for Congressional District 23, a sprawling district that borders Mexico from the outskirts of El Paso to the suburbs of San Antonio. Republicans are notorious for their down and dirty tactics from the notorious racist Southern Strategy employed by Sen. Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon, the latter's Watergate to seeking Russian assistance in 2016.

But the GOP strategy has backfired. Within 72 hours after the National Republican Congressional Committee asked other GOP and conservative groups to attack Ortiz Jones for being a lesbian, her campaign raised $100,000.

“The outpouring of grassroots support our campaign received after Washington Republicans’ bigoted and homophobic attacks shows just how out of touch they are with Texans in this district,” Jones’ campaign manager Lacey Morrison, told HuffPost Tuesday (Sept. 1).

As first reported by HuffPost last week, the National Republican Congressional Committee asked other GOP and conservative groups to attack Ortiz Jones for being gay. It included an image of the candidate with her partner, as well as other talking points.

It should be pointed out that the same website did not include pictures of other Democratic candidates spouse or partners.

Ortiz Jones, a former Air Force intelligence officer who served in Iraq, narrowly lost to incumbent Republican, Rep. Will Hurd, in 2018. Last year, Hurd retired last year widening the possibility for the Democrats to turn the district blue. The Republicans poured money into the District 23 race. 

Some Republicans have suggested using same-sex marriage as an issue to turn conservative Hispanic Catholics against Democrats. The 23rd is nearly 70% Hispanic. But a 2019  Pew Research Center poll found 58% of Hispanics supported same-sex marriage.

“These personal, homophobic, and transphobic attacks shows how shameless and low Tony Gonzales and the NRCC are willing to go in the race for Texas’s 23rd Congressional District,” HuffPost quoted Rebecca Marques, the Texas state director at the Human Rights Campaign.

“NRCC is stuck using 2004-style scare tactics and just can’t seem to understand that this outdated playbook doesn’t work anymore,” said Marques. “If Tony Gonzales and national Republicans think anti-LGBTQ rhetoric is a winning issue, they’re messing with the wrong Texan.”

After HuffPost's report, Republicans took down the suggested talking points but the photo showing Ortiz Jones and her partner remains on the GOP website.

On Tuesday, Ortiz Jones tweeted: “I remember what it was like to serve under 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.' to hide who I am to serve our country ... To the bigots: take your best shot. To everyone else: donate here to join our fight.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.

Supreme Court rules 1964 Civil Rights Law applies to LGBTQ+ people

Activists stand in front of the Supreme Court.

In a 6-3 landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal anti-discrimination laws protect gay and transgender workers from job discrimination in a trio of cases consolidated in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia. 

“For the past few weeks, the LGBTQ+ community has been fearfully awaiting this decision. Today, we celebrate this historic ruling and the progress we have made toward equality under the law. The Supreme Court has officially affirmed that LGBTQ+ Americans are protected from discrimination in the workplace," said Rep. Mark Takano, who in 2012 became the first openly gay person of color elected to Congress.

In the surprise decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects gay, lesbian, and transgender employees from discrimination based on sex. The ruling was 6-3, with Justice Neil Gorsuch, Donald Trump's first appointee to the court, writing the majority opinion. The opinion was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the court's four liberal justices.

"Today," Gorsuch said, "we must decide whether an employer can fire someone simply for being homosexual or transgender. The answer is clear." He found such discrimination is barred by the language in the 1964 law that bans discrimination in employment based on race, religion, national origin or sex.

The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) applauded the Supreme Court for affirming the rights of LGBTQ individuals, and that they cannot be discriminated against with respect to their employment based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.

“NAPABA has and will continue to be supportive of LGBTQ equality,” said Bonnie Lee Wolf, President of NAPABA. “We recognize that there are legal, cultural and social issues specific to the LGBTQ community. We are pleased that the Supreme Court recognizes that discriminatory employment practices due to a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity have no place in the workplace."

“The laws have a significant impact on the Asian Americans community because so many of us are LGBTQ.” said Glenn D. Magpantay, Executive Director of the National Queer APIA. 

In a statement, the NQAPIA said: "This is a watershed moment for the LGBTQ community. The decision will directly impact 1 in 3 (or 5.2 Million) Asian Americans who live in one of 30 states and are at risk of being fired, refused housing or denied services simply because they are LGBT."

AAPIs are the nation’s fastest growing racial group in the United States today. A survey by Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund shows that a majority of Asian Americans support laws protecting gaiy and transgender people from iscrimination in employment, housing and pubilc accommodations.

The High Court's decision is a setback for the Trump administration, which sided with the employers in these cases, and has used its rule-making power to issue new directives that take away previous protections for transgender individuals.

“Attacks by President Trump and his administration on LGBTQ+ rights are persistent," added Takano. "They have threatened the safety, health, and financial well-being of our community by rolling back non-discrimination protections in healthcare, employment, housing, adoption, education, and the list goes on. Under the guise of religious liberty, the Trump Administration has sanctioned discrimination against a community that already suffers disproportionately from high levels of poverty, lack of access to healthcare, homelessness, and violence."

Speaking to reporters, Trump said of the ruling: "They've ruled and we live with the decision of the Supreme Court." He called the opinion "very powerful,"

AAPI LGBTQ youth are more likely to open up to their friends than to family

NQAPIA

Asian American parents who love their LGBTQ children.

Asian American and Pacific Islander youth who are LGBTQ are more likely to come out to their friends than to their parents, according to a new report.
The research, released Wednesday by the Trevor Project, an LGBTQ crisis intervention and suicide prevention organization, also found that LGBTQ youth were less likely to attempt suicide by more than 50 percent as a result of widespread acceptance among their friends.

“Though many LGBT Asians are out in the community, they go back into the closet in their families, fearful of coming out to parents and dishonoring them. Gay Asians should not suffer in silence," acknowledged  Glenn Magpantay, executive director of National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance.

Acceptance of sexual orientation from LGBTQ friends (98%) and straight friends (91%) were high and comparable to rates of non-AAPII LGBTQ youth., the study reports.

Rates of gender identity acceptance among AAPI TGNB youth from LGBTQ friends (96%) and straight friends (72%) were also comparable to rates among non-API youth. Sexual orientation acceptance from straight friends reduced the risk for suicide attempts among API LGBTQ youth by more than half.

“We know that coming out is a personal choice and a lifelong process, that individuals get to choose who and what context they come out to,” Amy Green, director of research at The Trevor Project, said. “The conclusion that really sounds strong there is for those who are friends and others in positions to support Asian American Pacific Islander youth can know how valuable and important that authentic acceptance is.”

Research shows that LGBT youth are more than four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. The Trevor Project estimates that more than 1.8 million LGBTQ youth between the ages of 13 and 24 in the U.S. seriously consider suicide each year. In the organization’s 2019 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, 87% of LGBTQ youth said it was important to them to reach out to a crisis intervention organization that focuses on LGBTQ youth.

However, among AAPI LGBTQ youth reported lower rates of depressed mood and suicidality compared to non-API LGBTQ youth, according to the study by the Trevor Project.

"It's difficult to make any gay-affirming resources, Asian Pacific Islander specific or not, available to our families because even discussing a family member's sexual orientation or gender identity breaks a major rule in our culture, which is to never talk about our 'problems,'" said Trinity Ordona, a longtime activist for LGBTQ rights. 

"That's why we work to educate the entire Asian Pacific Islander community about LGBT issues, because the less they are seen as problems, the more our families and friends will be able to talk about it."

"We are concerned about our family and the huge fear of rejection we may face," said Ordona. "It's true that many Asian parents tend to be very conservative and protective of their children. But once you can get them behind their kids, they will take on the world!"

Jameela Jamil comes out amid controversy

JAMEELA JAMIL

Actress Jameela Jamil broke her self-imposed break from social media to come out as queer.

The Good Place star has been outspoken against mental health, body-shaming and positive body image but she hasn't said anything about her sexual preference until recently.

But she is being criticized because she didn't come out until she felt pressured to do so because of her participation in a new show, Legendary, which fans said she shouldn't be passing judgement on a form of ballroom dancing, "Voguing" popular in the gay community.

In her Twitter post, Jamil shared that she “never officially came out as queer because "it’s not easy within the south Asian community to be accepted.” Her father is from India and her mother is from Pakistan, cultures in which being gay is not generally accepted.

She continued in her tweet that she “was scared of the pain of being accused of performative bandwagon jumping, over something that caused me a lot of confusion, fear, and turmoil when I was a kid.”

The LGBTQ community in India is still fighting for their rights and acceptance as human beings. 

She said she had hoped that her celebrityhood would help the show's popularity.

The actress had been on a self-imposed break from Twitter, but felt compelled to explain her coming out and why she hesitated for so long.

In a follow-up tweet, she thanked her supporters and offered advice to other people who remain in the closet out of fear.

"Do it whenever you feel the time is right, as long as you think you feel safe. But feel no shame about getting it off your chest and know you are not alone." Her tweet follows below:

Woman who spoke out about gay conversion therapy found dead

ALANA CHEN

ASAM NEWS

Police say there’s nothing suspicious about the death of a 24-year-old woman who recently spoke out against gay conversion therapy.

Alana Chen was reported missing Saturday to the Louisville Police Department. The Denver Post reports authorities in Boulder County discovered her car in a parking lot of Gross Reservoir where they later found her body.

A cause of death has not been released, but Chen came out to a priest at Boulder’s St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church while in high school and underwent conversion therapy at Catholic Charities’ Sacred Heart Counseling. She discussed her mental health and struggles with self harm with the Denver Post just this past summer.

“I felt a lot of shame and anxiety,” Chen said. “I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Was I going to hell? But I was still extremely faithful, and I felt like the church and the counseling was the thing that was saving me. The worse I got, the more I clung to it.”

Three years ago, after attempting suicide, she checked into a psychiatric hospital

“I think the church’s counsel is what led me to be hospitalized,” said Chen, “I was feeling so much shame that I was comforted by the thought of hurting myself. I’ve now basically completely lost my faith. I don’t know what I believe about God, but I think if there is a God, he doesn’t need me talking to him anymore.”

Carissa Chen, said her sister, Alana,  kept a journal. "One of the things she wrote was that she had a compelling story to tell," but, "No one will listen."

Chen's family now wants to help share her story to help other people grappling with mental health issues and their identity. They have launched a website to help provide support in Chen's memory: alanafaithchen.org

"Because no one else should have to feel that way, and no one else should have to take their life because they are scared," Carissa Chen said.

A spokesperson for the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver said that they “reject any practices that are manipulative, coercive, or pseudoscientific.” However, a conference this year sponsored by the archdiocese had a ministry for people who want to “overcome homosexuality.

A Go Fund Me page set up to support Chen’s family's  website.

Actor Jake Choi gives tearful HRC speech for the 'Lost' LGBTQ 'Kids like me'

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Jake Choi in tears as he accepts the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award.

ASAM NEWS

Actor Jake Choi who recently came out as sexually fluid broke down in tears as he accepted the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award and empathized with kids “thrown out by their families because of who they are.”

The actor, who grew up in Queens, NY,  received the award in Columbus, Ohio on June 2 from The Human Rights Campaign.

Choi who is a series regular on ABC’s Single Parents and co-starred in the recent movie The Sun Is Also A Star recalled his upbringing growing up in a strict Korean immigrant household, reported The Advocate.

“Queerness was not an option I knew about growing up. And add to that our rough neighborhood, where each morning when I left our home, I remembered to wear my straight, hyper-masculine attitude like armor to make it through the day,” he shared.

His role in 2015 portraying a gay character in Front cover helped clarify in his mind his own sexual orientation.

“That self-awareness truly forced me to own my identity and my attractions and to take real pride in who I am,” said Choi.

It wasn’t until the end of his speech when he dedicated his award to others that he broke down and cried.

“Tonight, I remember the kids like me growing up in all kinds of neighborhoods, some afraid, some lost and confused, some thrown out by their families because of who they are or who they love. Some — too many — who have taken their own lives due to bullying either by peers or their families and relatives.”

You can watch the entire 8-minute speech below.

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Darren Criss explains why he's done playing gay characters

Darren Criss was praised for his role in 'Hedwig and The Angry Inch.'

DARREN CRISS has played gay serial killer Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace, the gay teen, Blaine  Anderson, in the TV series Glee and the sexually ambiguous lead character in the Broadway musical Hedwig and The Angry Inch. Are you noticing a trend?

In a recent interview, Criss said he will no longer play characters who are gay.

"As a straight, white, cisgender male I get to explore all these things that are completely not me," Criss told Bustle. "And what's cool is it glorifies both the power in that and the struggle in that."

He  continues, "I want to make sure I won't be another straight boy taking a gay man's gay man's role." 

Those aren't the only role roles Criss has portrayed, but they are the roles that he's received the most acclaim.
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Criss' sensitivity to LGBTQ representation can be based on recent surveys showing  that in the 2018-2019 TV season, out of 857 series regular characters on primetime scripted programming on the five broadcast network only 75 were LGBTQ, according to a report, "Where We Are on TV," by the gay advocacy group GLAAD.

Casting straight actors for queer roles -- or, "queerwashing," akin to "yellowface" a term for white actors playing Asian characters -- is nothing new in Hollywood. In 2017, Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer, two actors who are not openly gay, playing queer roles. Chalamet won a Oscar for his portrayal.

This awards season alone, Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone, Mahershala Ali, Rami Malek, Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant are all straight actors who were nominated for Golden Globes for their LGBTQ+ roles.

Criss won an Emmy for his portrayal of serial killer Andrew Cunanan in 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace.'

The issue of representation was brought home to Criss as he was playing Cunanan, a Filipino American mestizo, the same heritage as Criss.

In an interview earlier this year in Vulture, Criss got into trouble when he said, “I always say one of my favorite things about myself is that I’m half-Filipino but I don’t look like it.”

The actor continued: “I just look like a Caucasian guy, which is nice. I’ve got the multi-ethnic thing going on. People think I’m like Italian or Mediterranean.”

On the subject of Asian American representation in media, he seemed to further stress how grateful he was for looking Caucasian:

“Somebody was talking about Asian American representation, and he’s like, ‘I don’t see a lot of stuff for Filipinos specifically,’ and I went, ‘I guess not, but I guess I don’t think about it.’ I have the luxury of being half-white and looking more Caucasian, so it doesn’t weigh on my conscience as much, like, ‘Ugh, why aren’t there more roles?’ I think as an actor, you just study and you wanna bring your ‘A’ game all the time and hopefully it doesn’t even matter.”

Filipinos and Filipino Americans took that to mean he preferred passing as white. The backlash prompted him to tweet after the Vulture interview was published.

“Just to clarify- 1 of my favorite things about myself is that I’m half Filipino. PERIOD. I happen to not look like it, but THAT fact is not what I like. I like the fact that most people don’t know it’s an ace up my sleeve, an ace I’m very proud of, regardless of what I look like.”

His role as Cunanan earned him an Emmy, making him the first Filipino to win that award. If he wins a Golden Globe next month, he'll be the first Filipino recipient of that award also. It raises his profile and his ethnic background becomes even more meaningful in this era of increased representation in the media.

Having been burned as a result of the Vulture interview, he seems to understand that however he may see himself, with his new-found fame, he carries a certain responsibility to represent and be a role model for other Filipinos and Asians. 

"I didn’t choose to be half-Filipino. I mean I love it, it’s very cool, and if this has been the outcome sure, I’m very pleased and proud that I can represent people that may see my presence in the media as a beacon for themselves," he says now. "That’s a real privilege."

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