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[NQV] SF visit: 8/31/96 (2)
Saturday 8/31/96
(continued)
The conference didn't start until after 10:30 AM! Rolland gave a few
welcoming remarks before introducing the keynote speaker: Huong Thien
Nguyen from UCLA, the female ROTC cadet who made news earlier this year
with her coming out story. Slightly diminutive and bespectacled, she
seemed a bit awkward at first (especially in her weak attempt to inject
emphatic humor into her speech), but got more at ease and impassioned
with her delivery as she increased eye contact during her address to
an audience of thirty something people (by the late afternoon, there
were about 50 in attendance, not counting those who had dropped by and
left at various times). Though identifying herself as Vietnamese and
bisexual, Huong raised questions about the difficult search for self-
identity: to seek to know "where one fits in" in terms of ethnic and
sexual identities. She related annecdotes about her own experience as
a young Vietnamese refugee assimilating into American society even to
the point of believing in and ready to fight for this country, and yet
feeling alienated on account of her gender and sexual identity in the
midst of a sexist and homophobic institution that is the USArmy Reserve.
She also spoke of the difficulty in maintaining links to her Vietnamese
language and ethnic identity, and the transformative experience of an
interracial relationship with a white lesbian activist in whom she had
recognize the love of her life. But above and beyond categories of
"where one fits in," Huong encouraged each and everyone to be true to
themselves and their own calling so that we could start a dialogue to
examine (and re-examine) our sexual and ethnic identities as was the
theme of this conference.
After the keynote address the men and women went separate ways (which
struck me as a rather awkward and divisive arrangement, even though it
might well be more operationally practical that way). About 20 people
stayed for the workshop "Queer & Vietnamese: a matter of membership"
facilitated by Alex Hoa. [I didn't attend and therefore cannot report
on the other workshop "for, by and about WOMEN" facilitated by Trang-
Anh Nguyen and Nhu Duong; it seemed to me that the men:women ratio of
roughly 7:3 was remarkable]. Alex gave some introductory remarks about
speaking in which ever combination of language as would be comfortable
to the speaker (he seemed to vacillate quite a bit between Vietnamese
and English, and a mixture of both). After having raised the issue
about confidentiality, he tactfully suggested that I seek permission
from the group before continuing taping the workshop, and upon the
awkward reaction from certain audience members who warily questioned
my motive in keeping records of the proceedings and writing a report
on the conference, I took the hint and stopped my tape recorder.
(to be continued)
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