Guidance for LGBTQI Children in the AAPI Community

In response to high risks of suicide, substance abuse, depression and victimization among LGBTQ adolescents, new emphasis is being placed upon the role that family support plays in reducing LGBTQ children's risks and strengthening their families. in May, the Family Acceptance Project (FAP) at San Francisco State University released a series of eight new Asian-language posters to share critical information from FAP’s peer-reviewed studies and family support work to help prevent suicide and other serious health risks and to promote well-being for AAPI LGBTQ children and youth.

Join us for a conversation with FAP's director and two parents of AAPI LGBTQI children.

About the Speakers

Marsha Aizumi is an author, speaker, educator and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. She serves on the PFLAG National Board and is co-founder and former president of PFLAG San Gabriel Valley Asian Pacific Islander. She and her son, Aiden, have spoken to more than 250 organizations, corporations and universities around the United States, and Marsha has spoken in China and Japan. She helped to develop the Family Acceptance Project Asian language posters. Marsha and her son, Aiden, co-wrote, Two Spirits, One Heart, a memoir that chronicles her journey with her transgender son from shame, sadness, and fear to pride, joy, gratitude, and hope.

Clara Lee is a proud Korean mother of a bisexual/queer son with trans experience. She is the founder of the API Rainbow Parents of PFLAG NYC chapter, which supports LGBTQ individuals and families of Asian heritage, fosters intergenerational dialogue, and addresses culture-specific needs of the Asian and Pacific Islander community. Lee also serves on the board of PFLAG NYC and is a co-founder of Korean American Rainbow Parents, a network of Korean parents and family with LGBTQ loved ones.

Caitlin Ryan, Ph.D., ACSW, is a clinical social worker, educator and researcher who has worked on LGBTQ health and mental health for more than 40 years and whose work on LGBTQ health has shaped policy and practice for LGBTQ and gender diverse children and youth. She directs the Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco State University—a research, education, intervention and policy project—that helps ethnically, racially and religiously diverse families to support their LGBTQ children. Dr. Ryan and her team conducted the first research on LGBTQ youth and families and developed the first evidence-based family support model that helps families and caregivers to decrease rejection and health risks and to increase family acceptance to promote well-being for LGBTQ children and youth. This includes developing research-based guidance resources, including FAP’s multilingual Healthy Futures posters and “Best Practice” resources for suicide prevention with LGBTQ youth.