Coming Out and Coming Home: Documenting the Voices of Queer and Trans Japanese Americans

This artist conversation will be hosted by JANM. Click here to RSVP. 

The Japanese American community has not always broadly welcomed gay, transgender, and queer Nikkei people. It took courage for LGBTQ+ Nikkei to live openly and with integrity in decades past. Hear from four LGBTQ+ Japanese Americans who are forerunners of making Nikkei communities more accepting: Melvin Fujikawa, Gary Hayashi, Bill Tashima, and Mia Yamamoto. They will be in conversation with moderator Aya Tasaki. This virtual discussion will also include Barney Cheng, the award-winning filmmaker who directed “Okaeri Voices: An Oral History Project,” a series of short Okaeri-produced documentaries about each of these figures that will be available for streaming.

This program is presented in partnership with Okaeri and the Japanese American National Museum, and is made possible, in part, by the Beyond Two Cents: LGBTQ AAPI Giving Circle.

Preceded By

Okaeri Voices: An Oral History Project

What was it like to be gay and Japanese American decades ago? — Barney Cheng