Monthly Archives: July 2010

The so-called "Asian’s Ultimate Shame"

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Asian culture, when you hear about it, you always hear anime, Japan, Domo-kun, Toyota Corollas, Mitsubishi, Honda Civics, chopsticks, “chinky eyes”, Chinese Food, etc.

But, do you know about “Asian’s ultimate shame”?

If you meet the following criteria(s), then you qualify as one.

Disclaimer: This does not apply to Non-Asians.
Are/Do you…?
____Do not have a college degree in medicine, law, or business
____Do not plan on getting married
____Do not plan to have children
____Plan to settle down with someone who does not belong to your culture
____Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered
____In a same-sex relationship
____Don’t get straight A’s.
Then, if you belong to at least one of those, then I want to say…
Congratulations! You are an ultimate Asian shame.
Another disclaimer: This is not absolute. This is only a fake questionnaire. This does not mean that you’re a shame. Please don’t take this seriously. This is for demo purposes only. Like seriously, don’t feel bad, okay? :)

There is a reason why I am bringing this up. Personally growing up in an Asian culture, I was taught all my life that the way to go about handling my life consists of getting an education, which is probably the only thing I agree with at this point in my life. Other values they promote include settling down, getting married to a nice, young, Asian gentle man, have kids, and live a happy heterosexual life.
There is always this pressure within the Asian culture to settle down and have families. There’s also this pressure to conform to tradition.

I admit that I am tired of hearing many Asian adults ranting about how the society sucks and how the youth today are “stinking lazy”. I  am tired of seeing many adult Asians comparing their livelihood to others for the sake of making themselves far more superior that their peers or whatnot. I am also tired of people within my culture who blame gay people for their hardships from time to time, and I am also annoyed at people within my culture who bash on the LGBT community by calling them names and other hurtful comments that they pass on as judgments to the LGBT community, especially LGBT people within the same cultural background they are from.

I may not be the first, but I want to join the movement of telling all Asian LGBT people that they are not, I repeat, NOT an ultimate shame. If you are Asian and identify as LGBT, then I want to salute you for being a diverse person. Love yourself and be proud of who you are. Never let anyone tell you that you cannot do anything just because you are queer and Asian. Stand up for who you are and be strong!

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Transgendered couple not treated properly at an Indiana Hospital

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Another human being violated because of who they are.


Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Indiana recently treated a patient without dignity and respect, violating the Hippocratic oath every healthcare provider pledges to as part of their promise to be the best healthcare provider they can possibly be.

So, what makes this hospital in Indiana stand out in the LGBT community?

A Trans woman and her partner have been horribly mistreated when she came into the emergency wing, coughing up a volume of blood, dehumanized and disrespected at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Indiana. Even though she showed the emergency room staff her state ID which had her Female name AND Female marker in clear print, they still put her into their system as a Male, then proceeded to ridicule her and loudly referred to her as “IT”, her partner was asked by so called health care “professionals” if she was a “HE-SHE”!! She was then quizzed about her length of time as a “Transvestite”
She may have a tumor in her lungs and they have refused to treat her with the excuse that they “do not know how to treat someone like her”!! –Taken from this link. Click here.

A more detailed description of this event and comments regarding the hospital’s policies can be found here on this link. Click here for more info.

There is a petition going on online right now that raises awareness about this recent incident and I highly encourage you to sign it whether you’re gay, straight, bisexual, lesbian, transgendered, or whatever else how you classify yourself with. Here’s the link: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ballmemorialhospital/

Here’s an excellent link from Bilerico.com that talks about the experience of Erin Vaught about this incident:
http://www.bilerico.com/2010/07/an_interview_with_erin_vaught_about_her_experience.php

This incident has outraged so many people, healthcare providers and LGBT community alike. Personally, hearing this incident angers me so much because I am also a healthcare provider, more specifically, a nurse. I believe in the hippocratic oath (click here for the oath) and the promise that every nurse swears to at their cap and gown ceremonies before they set out to the world to be the greatest nurse possible.

This deeply saddens me to know that there are healthcare providers out there, not only nurses, who mistreat patients because they are different from them. In nursing school, it was emphasized greatly by my professors and clinical instructors alike that healthcare providers must give quality, patient-centered, cultural competent, dignified, respectful, and individualized care. Where is the compassion that healthcare providers have when caring for their patients? Where is the love and respect? Where is the dignity?


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Homosexuality in Africa (Uganda)

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“Gotta kill the gays!”
“We should hang them”

The LGBT witch hunt in Africa has begun. In Uganda, they seem to love outing and persecuting the gay people over there. The forefront of this hate crusade is Pastor Martin Ssempa, a Christian preacher from Uganda, who for some reason, knows so many things about gay pornography.

Here’s a video of him talking about the anti-gay legislation in Uganda and some graphic explanations of gay pornography.

Listening to him in this video greatly disturbs me because he uses gay pornography as a tool to incite hate to the LGBT community in Uganda, and as a preaching tool in his church as seen in the following videos.

Don’t mean to rant for a bit, but c’mon! Jesus Christ never persecuted anybody or traumatized anybody via pornography. This is just sick to see a Christian pastor inciting violence against homosexuals in Uganda and beyond, and worst thing is that Christian Evangelicals such as Rick Warren have helped fuel this extreme wave of homophobia across Uganda.

There is an excellent documentary film from Current TV for the Vanguard documentary series called “Missionaries of Hate”, which features Uganda and the hateful crusade against the LGBT community over there. You can watch the full documentary on the video below.

As a member of the LGBT community, I am at a loss of words for this. I am also angry to see persecution, but also, promotion of hateful propaganda by someone who has religious authority. Now I wonder, if Jesus was alive and God is watching down right now and they both decide to come down to earth and speak to the world, I wonder what they would say. What would Jesus do?

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Coming Out: Are you ready for it?

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Every LGBT person will, at some point in their lives, will choose to come out of the closet that suffocates their daily lives by hiding their true selves to everyone they know. 

“Coming out” is no joke, and this is a life-changing experiences that will change yourself, how others view you, and how others will interact with you in the future. This is a step that once you do it, there’s no turning back. This is a life-changing event that can make you or break you, and still build who you are as a person. It is a rite of passage in becoming “you”, and not how society says you should be. This is a stepping stone in accepting yourself and loving yourself, a small baby step that will open doors to new opportunities that will drastically bring so many wonderful, and sometimes not so wonderful, things in your life.
This is a process that does not require a time limit, guidelines on how to do a “proper coming out process”. There is not right or wrong way to come out to someone you know. It is all up to you whether where, when, how, and who you will tell about yourself. You can take all the time in the world for your “coming out” process, and it does not matter how you do it. All that matters is that you let your heart out in the open and be honest with yourself once and for all.
Here are some tips that I want to share about the “coming out” process.
  • Don’t rush. Take your time in this life-changing process and there is not right or wrong way of doing so.
  • Handle your emotions carefully. Fear was something I greatly struggled with because I did not know what to expect. Just be ready for the worst case scenarios.
  • Be  prepared in advance. Coming out to someone you know can be the best or the worst thing that can happen to you. You may be kicked out, rejected, and the like. Just in case this happens, make sure you have a back up plan in advance just in case things go wrong.
  • Look up organizations that may help you. There are many organizations out there that have resources you can use when you plan to come out to people you know, such as your parents. PFLAG, for example, has pamphlets available on their website for parents of LGBT children that recently came out. Click here for more info about PFLAG (Parents, Friends, and Families of Lesbians and Gays)
  • You know when the right time comes. There is no right or wrong time to come out to someone. Usually, you will know when to come out. When I came out to my mom, I already felt so miserable for the past few months of my life hiding my true self from her and the rest of my family. I couldn’t bear having a “mask” on my face to cover the real me. At some point, I just gave in and stopped hiding and pretending that nothing was wrong. 
  • Come out to yourself first.. It’s all about the first step, and that is to accept yourself. If you cannot do this, then you are a long way to go from coming out of that filthy, suffocating closet. Acceptance starts within you before you tell others about yourself.
So, I hope these tips will help you with the “coming out” process, and if you ever need someone to talk to, feel free to message me here.
This is a big step to take, and it can be very risky. Make sure that you are ready when you tackle on this life-changing process. Sometimes, things may not go so well, or things you have planned ahead may not go well as you thought. By taking this step, you are being true to yourself, and accepting who you are is the first step to the rest of your life that will be great. Cheers to life! 
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"Death to the gays!"

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They want our heads, they want us dead. Well, what do you know? A Christian wants LGBT folks dead! Oh, such love.

So, by this sign, here’s what I see:

  • They want us dead
  • They want our blood
  • They want a second holocaust
All in the name of religion.

This is very disturbing because the message that is found in the bible is not of hate, but of love.
1 Corinthians 13:4 says “Love is patient. Love is kind.It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud”

Even if you’re not Christian, you should know that God preaches about love, and his ultimate love is to send his son Jesus Christ to save the world from damnation. Jesus Christ preached about love, not hate.
This is the greatest irony. Preaching “love” by spreading fear and hate is not really love. So, next time you persecute someone who’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, please remember:
Leviticus 11:9-12  9These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.10And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:11They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination. 12Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.

In other words, God hates shrimp, lobster, crabs, clams, and mussels.
Here’s another one to remember children:

Leviticus 20:9 “For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him.” 

So children, respect your parents or you can be put to death.
Did you know the bible does not want you trimming your beard?

Leviticus 19:27 “Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.” 

Those are  just some of the few things the bible says is wrong. You can read more examples here on this link. Just click here.

So, next time someone bashes someone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered using religion, please remember these examples.

Long live the LGBT folks!

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