200 organizations, celebrities back AAPI Day Against Bullying & Hate streaming event on Monday

Some of the celebrities taking part in the 'United We Stand' virtual event on Monday, May 18.

When the coronavirus landed in the US, it unleashed a wave of anti-Asian acts of attacks, harassment and bullying giving more relevance to the annual AAPI Day Against Bullying+Hate on Monday, May 18.

The anti-bullying nonprofit Act to Change is hosting “United We Stand”, a virtual event calling for the end of racism and xenophobia. with a host of AAPI celebrities, community activists and elected officials taking part including John Cho, Kal Penn, Lisa Ling, Rep. Grace Meng, Jose Antonio Vargas Randall Park.

"Our mission at Act To Change is to protect and empower youth within our diverse AAPI communities, including Asian American, Pacific Islander, Sikh, Muslim, LGBTQI, and immigrant youth,” said actor, author, and Act To Change co-founder Maulik Pancholy.

“Act To Change puts together an annual national AAPI Day Against Bullying and Hate to stand in solidarity and recommit to our movement," continued Pancholy. "Sadly, COVID-19 has only exacerbated the xenophobia and racism that AAPI communities have always faced. It’s inspiring to see leaders and individuals from all over the country stand with us, honor the legacy of Vincent Chin, and pledge today and everyday, to stand up against bullying and hate.”

This day of prevention and awareness comes at a critical point of time where Asian Americans are increasingly facing racist because COVID-19 is believed to have made its first appearance in China. The knowledge has led to the avoidance of and attacks towards anyone of Asian descent, regardless of if they have had no contact from anyone related to the epicenter. 

Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council’s Stop AAPI Hate has received more than 1,900 reports of hate crimes against Asians since March. “United We Stand” is a call for communities to stand together against violence, xenophobia, and racism.

Over 200 organizations are supporting the event.

Moderated by actor and author Pancholy, among the special guests are:

• Tan France, TV personality
• Lisa Ling, journalist
• John Cho, actor
• Padma Lakshmi, food expert & author
• Kal Penn, actor, producer & former Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement
• Randall Park, actor, writer & producer
• New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray
• Jose Antonio Vargas, founder, Define American
• Helen Zia, author/activist
• Poorna Jagannathan, actor, Netflix’s Never Have I Ever
• Hudson Yang, actor, Fresh Off the Boat
• Celia Au and Lawrence Kao, actors, Wu Assassins
• Punam Patel, actor, Netflix’s SPECIAL
• Congresswoman Grace Meng (NY-06)
• Bing Chen, chairman, Gold House & general partner, AUM Group
• Michelle Lee, editor-in -chief, Allure

The streaming will be 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m. Monday. More details at acttochange.org/dayagainstbullying. Live stream information will be provided upon registration.

10 Asian Americans to know for LGBT+ Month

By Sophia Whittemore
ASAM NEWS

June is LGBT+ Pride Month! To celebrate, we've featured 10 LGBT+ Asians and their amazing accomplishments in a variety of fields -- from politics to television. Check them out!



George Takei 

Best known as Hikaru Sulu from the TV series “Star Trek”, George Takei has played actor, director, author and activist over the years. The Japanese interment camp survivor has been happily married to Brad Altman since 2008.

Margaret Cho 

Openly bisexual, the Korean comedian often addresses intersectionality with her acts and has received acclaim for women, Asian Americans and the LGBT+ community

Sutan Amrull

Sutan Amrull, who won season three of RuPaul's Drag Race, is also an accomplished makeup artist with big name clients such as Dita Von Teese and Pamela Anderson. His interest in drag began while he was growing up in Indonesia, seeing trans sex workers in awe as they wooed potential clients on the street. "There was something in it that made people uncomfortable, but it was also very beautiful," he told Vice. "I like to make people feel uncomfortable and to do it with beauty, and so that’s where my fascination began."

Kim Coco Iwamoto 

Born in Hawaii, the Japanese American bureaucrat is the highest-ranked U.S. transgender official. She once held a seat on Hawaii’s Board of Education and is now running to be the Democratic candidate for Hawaii's Lieutenant Governor.

Jenny Shimizu

Japanese American model and actress Jenny Shimizu won the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival 2006 Lesbian Icon Award. She’s been on the cover of Vogue and is also famous for her relationship with Angelina Jolie, whom she met on the set of “Foxfire” in 1996, according to Heavy.

Alexander Wang

The Taiwanese American designer was supported by legendary Vogue editor Anna Wintour, after his launch in 2007 New York Fashion Week. Today, he's most well-known for his urban designs.

Bai Ling

Best known for her work on Lost and Entourage, Chinese American actress Bai Ling iopenly bisexual.

Holland, KPOP

Holland is considered K-pop’s first openly gay idol. He spoke in SBS Pop Asia about severe childhood bullying for being gay. He also performed in music video “Neverland” to showcase his relationship with his boyfriend -- an open effort to make other LGBT+ youthfeel accepted.

Maulik Pancholy

The actor best known for his roles on 30 Rock, Weeds and Phineas and Ferb came out as gay by introducing his partner, Ryan Corvaia, in 2013. They were married one year later.

Irshad Manji

Of Indian and Egyptian background, Manji is a lesbian human rights activist and reformist Muslim. According to the Huffington Post, she is a scholar at NYU and writer of The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith and Allah, Liberty & Love