The First Gay Film: 'Different From the Others' From 1919

Contents:

• THE FIRST GAY FILM: DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS FROM 1919
• IN OF AN AGE, A CHANCE MEETG BE A HEARTBREAKG GAY LOVE STORY

THE FIRST GAY FILM: DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS FROM 1919

Andrew Ahn’s father once told him that there were “no gay people Korea.”Ahn was so aaid of his parents’ reactn if he me out to them that he had a backpack and a iend on standby se he need to leave.

In a culturally nservative muny, where gog to church and buildg a fay were heavily emphasized, Ahn felt his gay inty kept him “om beg able to participate Korean culture.” Then, he started equentg GAMeBoi, a weekly Asian Amerin gay party at Wt Hollywood’s Rage Nightclub. He learned to embrace beg both Korean and gay, so much so that he directed “Fire Island,” a groundbreakg queer Asian Amerin rom- released last year.

IN OF AN AGE, A CHANCE MEETG BE A HEARTBREAKG GAY LOVE STORY

Beg Asian Amerin and LGBTQ+ n feel lonely, wh stutns such as ethnic church often disavowg non-heterosexual relatnships while tradnal LGBTQ+ spac such as gay bars n be unwelg to people of lor. But the muny is beg visible — California now has an out Asian Amerin ngrsman and state legislators — and partyg person remas an important way to nnect, even an onle age.“Fdg plac like GAMeBoi, where beg queer and Asian do -exist … It’s not like a 1,000-year-old Korean cultural rual, but I uld create a new rual,” said Ahn, 37.On a recent Friday, hundreds packed QT Nightlife’s monthly K-Pop Night at Micky’s, a Wt Hollywood gay club a block or so east om the old GAMeBoi se.Some posed for selfi a pk Barbie box wh dis balls hangg overhead. “If we get our face out there, then people will start takg a ltle more serly.” (Michael Owen Baker / For The Tim) Even historilly gay neighborhoods like Wt Hollywood or San Francis’s Castro district, Asian Amerins have long been ignored or fetishized, seen as feme and weak.

In 2019, then-Wt Hollywood Mayor John Duran argued that he did not appropriately touch a member of the Gay Men’s Chos of Los Angel bee “he’s a skny Korean kid wh pimpl on his cheek.” Asian Amerin advocy groups cricized Duran’s remark, wh API Equaly-LA potg to the long history of discrimatn agast Asian men gay muni such as Wt Hollywood, whose clubs “ed to require three forms of photo intifitn om anyone they perceived as Asian.” Duran eventually rigned om his posn as mayor, cg health reasons, after several other allegatns of sexual harassment.Miss Shu Mai, a Taiwane Amerin drag queen who hosted the K-Pop Night, relled seeg whe actors yellowface — makp that ma them look East Asian L.A.’s drag scene. (Michael Owen Baker / For The Tim) “In a time when there is anti-Asian hate and feels like the whole world is cmblg … what’s more revolutnary polilly than dancg, havg a good time and lovg one another?” said Crisman, a 36-year-old gay Korean Amerin rearcher and artist. On this night, he had brought some female high school iends who wanted to experience the gay clubbg scene.“I am an environment where I feel safe exprsg myself,” he said.Then, he cut the terview short.“Attentn” by NewJeans was playg, and he uldn’t rist spng around, lghg and dancg on the floor.