Finding space : the marginalization of a gay East Asian male immigrant in Toronto's LGBTTIQ communities

Drawing on the storytelling tradition of critical race (Razack, 1998; hooks, 2000, 1992) and feminist (Scott, 1992) scholars, I tell a personal story of immigration and sexual identity, and theorize that experience. Borrowing from the 1960s feminism in which according to Carol Hanisch (1969) the phrase, 'the personal is political' was first used, I describe my experiences as a way to explore how unequal social relationships, racist practices, homophobia, and community institutions constitute my experiences as a gay East Asian male in Toronto. Central to my storytelling as a gay East Asian immigrant in Toronto is understanding how racial and sexual identities are created. I explore how dominant groups construct identities that may appear to give me visibility in a multicultural society but also operate to reinforce oppression through institutional racism and homophobia.