Letters to Immigrant Parents on National Coming Out Day

Guest Post by Patrick Lee



Growing up queer is rarely easy. Throw on a heaping load of immigrant family sacrifice, cultural conflict, and language barriers, and you have something that starts to approximate how I felt coming of age in a very white suburb of Chicago.

I didn't know whom to talk to or confide in; I didn't even really know why I felt so different from other people around me. I just knew that I didn't see myself in any of my friends or classmates.

But now I know I'm not alone: As an adult, I moved to New York and started seeking out community. I met a handful of queer and trans Asian Pacific Americans, and then another handful, and then another. Our experiences are never the same; our families all unique. But we share some common threads and frustrations, and for the first time in my life, I felt like someone was hearing me.

I decided to make a film to document some of the stories of our community, and the struggles we have communicating with our immigrant parents about queerness, gender identity, and sexuality.

The Sex Talk, Saying 'I Love You' and Other Awkward Asian Parent Conversations

Jubilee Project's latest video series attempts to "bridge the gap" within Asian American families.



Jubilee Project's latest video series for NBC Asian America, The Bridge, brings together Asian American parents and their children face to face to discuss some topics they may never have broached before -- everything from their family immigration history to love and, yes, sex. (You can actually see mom, dad and kid sweating when the sex talk comes up.) It's both squirmy awkward and tearfully moving.

Check out all the episodes of "The Bridge" below. My favorite installment is Episode 5, where parent and kid stand and wordlessly stare at each other, face to face. You are not ready.

Music Video: G Yamazawa honors his parents in "Dining Room"

Dedicated to mom, dad and all who share the immigrant family hustle.



Happy Thanksgiving! In keeping with the theme of food and family, we present the premiere of award-winning poet/emcee G Yamazawa's powerful, beautiful new music video for "Dining Room," from his forthcoming debut EP. The track is dedicated to his parents and to all who share the immigrant family hustle. Directed by Saleem Reshamwala, it was filmed at G's parents' restaurant Yamazushi in Durham, North Carolina.

Check it out:

6-year-old drops knowledge on her divorced parents

"If I can be nice, I think all of us can be nice too."



Meet Tiana, the wise little 6-year-old girl whose sage, adorable relationship advice has gone viral. In this video, she sits on the stairs and gives a touching little lecture -- with lots of heartfelt gesturing -- imploring her divorced parents to try to get along and be friends. Tiana's mother, Cherish Sherry, was moved by her conviction and shared the video on Facebook last week. It has since been viewed and shared millions of times.

"Mom, are you ready to be his friend?" Tiana starts.

Mother arrested for leaving child unattended in hot van

Police officer smashes car window to rescue young girl in Costco parking lot.



You'd think people would understand this by now. Parents and caregivers, do not leave children unattended in cars, even for the quickest errands. This week in New Jersey, a mother was arrested after leaving her young daughter unattended inside her parked minivan while she went shopping at Cosctco.

Cop rescues young child from hot van, mom charged with endangerment

On Thursday in Hackensack, a Bergen County Sheriff's officer smashed a van window to rescue a 2-year-old girl from inside a locked car parked in a Costco parking lot. According to witnesses, the child was "sweat-soaked" and crying profusely. The officer estimated it was at least 80 degrees in the van.

The child's mother, Chaeyoung Lim-Kim, returned with her shopping cart to find a crowd gathered around her car and her daughter in the arms of a sheriff's officer. She was charged with child endangerment.

Asian parents have the sex talk with their adult daughters

"The Encyclopedia Britannica has a really good section on sex."



My fellow Asian Americans, when you were growing up, did your parents give you the sex talk? For a lot of us, the subject was not discussed and pretty much avoided altogether. In this hilarious and heartfelt Buzzfeed video, Asian Parents Have The Sex Talk With Their Daughters As Adults. Our friend Jenny Yang and her mom get in on the awkwardness, and it's amazing and honest comedy gold.

Take a look:

Kids of Asian Immigrants Talk About Their Parents' Sacrifices

This BuzzFeed video had me in tears.



Oh man. I am feeling this one so hard right now. In this BuzzFeed video, the children of Asian immigrants open up and talk about some of the sacrifices their parents made for them while growing up -- and take the opportunity to say thank you. Not gonna lie, this one had me fighting back a few tears.

Take a look:

Asians! Have you told your parents "I love you"?

Video captures Asian parents reacting to kids saying "I love" -- some for the first time.



If you've read or even heard of Lac Su's heartwrenching memoir I Love Yous Are For White People, you know that the title is pitch-perfect on multiple levels. Perhaps as a fellow child of Asian immigrants you can relate -- our parents are not always the most verbally expressive when it comes to love. Getting a simple "I love you" uttered between you might be a rare moment. It's often shown in other ways.

Anyone else feeling this? Then you might want to watch this. In this video by Steven Lim, several young Asian Americans call up their parents to tell them "I love you" -- some, for the very first time. It's really sweet: