Pictured: Susan Xing, Brian Nguyen, Shelly Chen, Hertz Alegrio, Walter Tlatenchi (left to right)

Q&A Space began as a story collection project during Hertz Alegrio’s and Shelly Chen’s internship at API Equality-LA in the summer of 2012. Since then, in an effort to create more accessible, culturally relevant resources for the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) LGBTQ community, especially youth, we at API Equality-LA have been working to develop the project into the site before you today: a storytelling and resource website specifically designed for those who identify as API and LGBTQ. Q&A Space is the first website of its kind, with in-language fact sheets for parents, community resources for youth, multi-media stories from the API LGBTQ community, and more.

Q&A is a play on the common phrase “questions and answers” and the term “queer and Asian.” While we don’t intend for this to be an exhaustive informational space where all questions are answered, we would like for this website to be a place of support and community for those seeking it.

Our goal is to provide API LGBTQ individuals with linguistically appropriate and culturally confident tools and resources to navigate their identities and find support through stories and shared experiences. When we see the diversity and depth of experiences of Asian and Pacific Islander LGBTQ people, we grow closer as a community.

Q&A Space has been featured in 8 Asians, The Advocate, Asian Week, Korea and the World, KoreaAm, and more.

Thank you to our generous supporters:

This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit www.calhum.org.

We also thank the Asian Pacific Community Giving Circle, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy Queer Justice Fund and the OUT Fund, The Arcus Foundation, Liberty Hill Foundation, and the Evelyn & Walter Haas Jr. Fund for their support.