Explore the lives of LGBTQ Vietnamese in the diaspora

LGBTQ Vietnamese in the diaspora may experience challenges but also many particular joys. This reading guide introduces readers to the lived experiences of LGBTQ Vietnamese in the diaspora who are making art, expressing themselves, and creating spaces to celebrate their communities.

diaCRITICS Readings

Coming out is a difficult, but often liberating process. Queer people of color, however, are challenged with navigating between their sexual orientation and their ethnic identity. Ngoc Linh recalls the time when she first came out to her mother.

Recently diaCRITICS managing editor Julie Thi Underhill attended Thao P. Nguyen’s “one-dyke” tragicomedy show Fortunate Daughter at the intimate Impact Theater in Berkeley, where it ran for three weekends. Last year Fortunate Daughter was a sold-out show in the New York International Fringe Festival, one of the most prestigious theater festivals in the U.S. Nguyen’s highly recommended multiple-character performance navigates some of the ongoing and palpable tensions, for Việt LGBTQ individuals, between secrecy and visibility and between coming out and coming home.

My favorite Vietnamese word is “thương,” which is actually the very word that I incorporated in ‘queer lost love’… “Thương” is like a love that can be romantic but more familial, and connotes a deeper, more genuine connection that’s emanating from the feeler. “Thương” is innocent, pure, raw, wholesome, honest love. But because it’s often used in a familial context, the romantic appeal of its use gets overshadowed and lost.

I often times view paper as a metaphor for history. When I am working on these hand-cut paper sculptures, I actively carve out space for histories that are actively forgotten and erased in this white supremacist nation. The reductive process deconstructs the white canvas, revealing more and more truths with every slice.

In 2014, Aiden Nguyễn arrived in Saigon. Coming from New York, he was surprised by the lack of a unified art scene and a visible LGBT community. Wanting to find and build a community of queer Vietnamese artists, Aiden and his friend, Nu, started Vănguard, a zine of Vietnamese LGBT artists and writers. Since 2014, Vănguard has already published two issues, featuring Anh Trần, Đăng Bùi, Đạt Phan (Khỉ), Đinh Công Thành (Thanh Coco), Gùi Nguyễn, Kim Cỏ, Nam Núm,Phước Thái and Thanh Mai. While the art is diverse, all of them carry a transgressive aesthetic that is intense and striking. Vănguard aims to provide a platform for non-mainstream LGBT Vietnamese artists and give exposure to their work in Vietnam, and because of its digital presence, the world.

A freelance photographer born in 1986 in Hanoi, Maika Elan (aka Nguyen Thanh Hai) has produced a series of intimate and compelling photographs of the private lives of gay, lesbian, and other non-heterosexual couples in Viet Nam, as part of a long-term project to document the many different couples within the country.

Our identities as queer and trans Vietnamese people call that we fight for liberation. From our ancestors the Trưng sisters who led the first resistance movement against occupying Chinese in Vietnam to our parents who managed to create homes, build businesses, and send their kids to college after leaving their homeland with nothing.

Discussion Questions

  • What challenges do LGBTQ Vietnamese face when coming out and how do these challenges differ compared to non-Vietnamese LGBT people?
  • How do the experiences of LGBTQ Vietnamese in the diaspora differ from those in Vietnam?
  • In what ways can art uplift and empower queer Vietnamese diasporic communities and other minority communities?
  • In what ways can the larger Vietnamese community show support for LGBTQ Vietnamese people?
  • What can Vietnamese Americans learn from the organizing and activism of the LGBTQ Vietnamese community?

Additional Materials