Workshops

Here are samples of the type of workshops we've been running:

Bible, Heterosexism, and Church ministry

A series of three monthly workshops (3-hour) for API church groups that seek to begin LGBT-affirming ministry by combating religious and cultural homophobia.

Sexuality and Spirituality

A series of three monthly sexuality education workshops (2-hour) from API perspectives that provides safer space for queer and Christian APIs to explore the relationship between sexuality and spirituality.

Unfolding the Sacred in Our Stories

The workshop is part of the cultural work of combating religious homophobia in the Asian Pacific Islander contexts. Participants are invited to explore the spiritual or religious aspect of the collective autobiography of being queer and Asian, by engaging each other in a space of communal story-telling and story-listening of experiences of alienation, resistance, survival and transformation. The goal is to become conscious of the sense of sacred and/or spiritual significance of our everyday queer and Asian lives.

Religious and Gay?

Using "In God's House: Asian American Lesbian and Gay Families in the Church" - a short documentary that captures the tensions between institutionalized religion's notions of sexual norms and contemporary expressions of sexuality and finds solace in radical re-imagination of the holy and the spiritual, the intricacies of Asian racial and cultural dynamics in LGBT issues are being explored. The audience is challenged to face the personal dilemmas of individuals and families, and consider fresh alternative views of the intersections of faith and sexuality.

"Being a Multicultural Multiracial Church: the Asian American experience of engaging LGBTQ issues."

Through watching the film In God's House: Asian American Lesbian and Gay Christian in the Church in this workshop, you will participate in a way of being in conversation as a multicultural multiracial church. You will gain a concrete understanding of why dialogue concerning sexuality issue needs to happen in specific cultural framework, how this discussion happens at the intersection of race and sexuality. You will also gain a better appreciation of how people of different cultures negotiate differences differently, and how the gifts and strengths of Asian Americans have contributed to acceptance and diversity in a multicultural multiracial church.

"Confronting Homophobia in API Christian Communities"

43% of API population in this country has identified themselves as Christians. Many API queer folks, including activists, have Christian backgrounds. API family sensibilities are not restricted to nuclear families, but include extended family and church family. Therefore, "all API families, and churches, are LGBT." Many API queers suffer from the homophobic stance of Christian family members and voters. LGBT-affirming anti-homophobia work needs to happen in API churches, so that API queer folks are not torn from their families, in addition to dealing with racism in mainstream LGBT communities. This workshop will provide safe space to discuss our experiences with Christianity and churches, and share strategies for survival, resistance and transformation. API queer and allies interested in long-term transformation work in API faith communities are most welcomed.