“Our back-and-forth lets me feel safe and seen”: transnational solidarities across Asian and queer illegibility

What is it about?

We (the two authors) are two queer and Asian educators. In this article, we talk about our experiences in graduate school and how the myth that Asians are "all the same" have impacted our lives and educational journeys. Instead, we write about the richness that exists in being Asian, the many cultures, nationalities, gender and sexuality identities that are within the Asian umbrella. We write about our lives to give ideas for other educators and communities, so that we can all learn from each other's beautiful and complex lived experiences.

Featured Image

Photo by Andra C Taylor Jr on Unsplash

Photo by Andra C Taylor Jr on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Many people have school experiences when they were lumped into other classmates of the same race, or where they experienced discrimination around their race, culture, or queerness. Our students and our Asian communities are brilliant and hold immense richness in their understandings of themselves and how their identities relate with the world. We (the authors) wanted to share our own experiences to encourage ourselves and fellow educators to center ourselves and students and make space for their beautifully complex identities. We think of ourselves as both educators and learners, and what we share could be applied in classrooms, but also in community spaces and activist spaces where people of different identities come together.