CMV: There is no such thing as an Asian queer identity

Something that I’ve never heard discussed in mainstream media is the fact that the Asian community does not recognize queerness at all. Yes, we do have queer people, but our perception of queerness is far different from yours.<br><br> <br><br>The common view is that if someone’s queer, it’s because they’re from a Western country or heavily influenced by Western society. There’s this idea that Western queerness isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s definitely something that should not be emulated.<br><br> <br><br>If you’re queer in our culture, you are not considered to be a part of that specific orientation. You’re considered to be Western by assimilation, and because of that, you’re not seen as one of us anymore. <br><br> <br><br>Naturally, because of this, queer Asian people do not have any space to express themselves in our communities. The only "queer Asian" spaces available to them are those that are predominantly Western. So, if you’re a queer Asian person, then you’re not only not a part of our culture anymore, but you’re not a part of your own either.<br><br> <br><br>This is especially problematic because our culture, especially the East Asian and Southeast Asian sectors, have gay people written in their historical records. This is especially true for the Chinese and Japanese, where it was common for samurai to have gay relationships.<br><br> <br><br>So, there is an historical basis for queerness in our cultures, and because of this, that’s the only form of queer expression that we accept. But, <br>if you’re openly gay or bi or whatever in the modern sense, you are still not accepted.<br><br> <br><br>In other words, you can’t be openly queer. The only queerness that’s accepted is the kind that’s deeply closeted, that isn’t modern. <br><br> <br><br>So, if you’re queer and Asian, you’re not accepted. But, if you’re queer and Asian and closeted, then you’re acceptable. <br><br> <br><br>We don’t have any concept for openly queer Asian people.<br><br> <br><br>In other words, there is no such thing as a queer Asian person. If an Asian person is openly queer, then they stop being Asian. <br><br> <br><br>It’s pretty mind boggling to me why people are so adamant on creating queer spaces when for us, it doesn’t even exist.<br><br> <br><br>***Edit: I think I should clarify that "Asian" in this context specifically refers to East Asians and Southeast Asians. <br><br> <br><br>For South Asians, queerness is viewed as being against religious teachings, which is probably the reason why it's not viewed like this. <br><br> <br><br>Something to also keep in mind is that our culture and religion are deeply intertwined, and so religion plays a huge role in how the rest of the culture functions. <br><br> <br><br>For example, Buddhism is an integral part of Chinese culture, Hinduism is integral to Indian culture, Shintoism is integral to Japanese culture, and Islam is integral to Indonesian culture. <br><br> <br><br>So, religion plays a huge role in shaping our societies, and because of that, our tolerance for queerness is much lower. <br><br> <br><br>Looking at it more, it seems like this is a cultural issue rather than a religious one, but for South Asian cultures, religion and queerness are pretty much the same thing, and so their perception of queerness is more shaped by religion than culture.***