From left: Marshall Wong, chair, API Rainbow Coalition; Rep. Judy Chu, 28th District; Carla Ybarra, transgender activist; Stacia Kato, co-president, PFLAG San Gabriel Valley API; Jeffrey DeGuia, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California.
The API Rainbow Coalition (ARC) on Aug. 27 released a public letter signed by Asian Pacific American elected officials and organizations that begin:
“We … call for the full inclusion and celebration of trans and nonbinary people. Although they are not discussed often enough in the Asian media and our broader community, we must acknowledge and lift up the stories of Asian Pacific American trans people. They are our children, siblings, neighbors, co-workers and friends.”
Signatories include Rep. Judy Chu (D-Pasadena), Access to Prevention, Advocacy, Intervention and Treatment (APAIT), Chinese American Citizens Alliance Los Angeles Lodge, Little Tokyo Service Center, Okaeri (A Nikkei LGBTQ+ Community), PFLAG SGV API, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans, South Asian Network, Viet Rainbow of Orange County, and West L.A. United Methodist Church.
The press conference was hosted by Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL). Jeff DeGuia, L.A. policy regional advocate, said, “It is imperative that we meet this moment and support and protect our trans siblings fiercely and loudly. The anti-trans rhetoric and the hundreds of anti-trans bills introduced or enacted in recent years have endangered the well-being of all our community members.
“We must continue to advocate for policies that allow our trans community members to thrive. We do this by following the lead of community leaders and organizers on the ground. We must remember the power that comes from unifying and uplifting voices that are often unheard. We must remember how we are connected across our many intersections, we must continue to show up for one another.”
Tony Hoang, executive director of the largest statewide LGBT civil rights organization, Equality California, said, “As the son of Vietnamese war refugees, I know first-hand the power of solidarity across communities. Today, the Asian Pacific Islander Rainbow Coalition is showing exactly that — standing united to say that transgender people deserve to be safe.
“Today’s action by the API Rainbow Coalition is a powerful reminder that when we unite, we can resist hate, defend our most vulnerable, and build a future where every transgender person is recognized and supported.”
Chu said, “Donald Trump is escalating a campaign of fear and hate against transgender people. From Day One, his administration has weaponized the power of the federal government to ban transgender people from serving in our military, attack transgender students, and block access to gender-affirming care.
“These attacks are direct threats to the safety, dignity, and freedom of transgender people everywhere — and they fall especially hard on AANHPI trans individuals, who are forced to endure multiple layers of discrimination perpetuated by the Trump Administration …
“I am proud to stand with the API Rainbow Coalition and say: trans rights are human rights. I will never stop fighting to protect and uplift the transgender community.”
Stacia Kato, the mother of a transgender daughter and a leader of PFLAG SGV API (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, San Gabriel Valley, Asian Pacific Islander), stated, “At the age of 16, my child let me know they were transgender female. I sought the help of families through PFLAG and quickly learned how important gender-affirming healthcare was to my daughter’s transition journey. With proper care, she was healthy and happy.
“Just as any parent, I want my daughter to thrive in a society that accepts her for the loving, kind, and beautiful human being she is.”
Carla Ibarra, LGBTQIA+ community liaison from the Los Angeles Department of Civil Rights, said, “the challenges that transgender folks face are not abstract; they permeate our daily lives — at work, in schools, at clinics, and even at our dinner tables. Yet, here we are — still present, fighting the good fight, and asserting the dignity and collective liberation that belongs to each of us.
“The true and real measure of Los Angeles’ unique greatness and resilience lies in the collective brilliance, hard work, and power of its people — a city of indigenous communities, immigrants, beautiful LGBTQ+ communities, and home to the largest Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in the county.”
Speakers encouraged members of the API and larger community to contact their legislators, urging them to oppose federal attacks on transgender rights, donate to or volunteer for organizations that are filing lawsuits and lobbying against anti-trans policies, and personally support families of transgender children that are being threatened by the Trump Administration.
To learn more about the API Rainbow Coalition, visit: https://bit.ly/APIrainbowCoalition