Life

31 amazing AAPI LGBTQ+ pioneers you should know

Celebrate Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with these influential and history-making trailblazers.
By
Joel Kim Booster
Joel Kim Booster Photo: Shutterstock

LGBTQ+ Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have long enriched the nation’s diverse cultural history as pioneers who challenge societal norms, break down barriers, and pave pathways for acceptance.

For AAPI Heritage Month, here are 20 history-making AAPI LGBTQ+ artists, advocates, and trailblazers who continue to inspire.

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Kevin Lionga Aipopo

Kevin Lionga Aipopo

Aipopo is a nonbinary Black-American, Samoan storyteller in the 350 Pacific Movement, a Pacific Islander-led international environmental justice initiative. As an AAPI LGBTQ+ leader for indigenous and queer climate liberationists, Aipopo interrogates systems of power and helps younger generations understand their identities.

Rosalie “Rose” Bamberger

rosalie-bamberger-daughters-of-bilitis-the-ladder
An image of the Daughters of Bilitis’ publication, The Ladder

Bamberger was a Filipina lesbian who founded the Daughters of Bilitis, the first U.S. lesbian organization. Started in 1955 as a secret society for lesbians to meet and support each other, Bamberger was only a member for about six months due to disagreements over the group’s direction. However, the group’s push to decriminalize homosexuality makes her an important AAPI LGBTQ+ leader in the early queer rights movement.

Joel Kim Booster

Kim Joel Booster, Pride and Prejudice, gay, Fire Island, Trip
Joel Kim Booster

Booster is a Korean-born AAPI LGBTQ+ artist who wrote, produced, and starred in the 2022 award-nominated film Fire Island, a modern gay adaptation of Pride and Prejudice with an all-Asian American cast. Booster has written for popular TV shows like Big Mouth and The Other Two. In 2018, he released Model Minority, his debut stand-up album about Asian American stereotypes in gay and white communities.

Margaret Cho

Margaret Cho performs at the Grand Ole Opry House during a tribute concert for Leslie Jordan Sunday, February 19, 2023. Entertainment Leslie Jordan Tribute Concert
Margaret Cho in 2023

Cho, a bisexual Korean American, is one of the first commercially successful Asian American female comedians. She gained notoriety through the 1994 ABC sitcom All American Girl, which was loosely based on her young experiences in San Francisco. Her 2021 memoir and one-woman show, I’m the One That I Want, discussed racism and misogyny in the entertainment industry that fueled her body image issues and drug addictions.

She has performed in 43 films, 56 TV shows, eight solo comedy specials, and is a steadfast AAPI LGBTQ+ activist who has fundraised for the Matthew Shepard Foundation, Human Rights Campaign, and PFLAG.

Cecilia Chung

Cecilia Chung, asian-american-lgbtq-aapi
Cecilia Chung

Chung, a Hong Kong-born AAPI LGBTQ+ activist, is the first trans woman and Asian person to lead the San Francisco Pride Celebration Committee and chair the city’s Human Rights Commission. She founded the annual Trans March and launched the Positively Trans network for HIV-positive transgender people, combining her personal story of resilience (as a former homeless sex worker) with her intersectional approach to social justice.

Manvendra Singh Gohil

Manvendra Singh Ohil, LGBTQ AAPI
Manvendra Singh Gohil

AAPI LGBTQ+ activist Manvendra Singh Gohil is the first out gay prince in India. He publicly came out in 2006 and founded the Lakshya Trust to focus on regional gay sexual health issues. In 2018, he announced plans to convert part of his ancestral palace into an LGBTQ+ community center.

Stephanie Hsu

Stephanie Hsu who plays “Kat” poses on the red carpet for the premiere of “Joy Ride” during South by Southwest Friday, March 17, 2023.
Stephanie Hsu in 2023

Hsu is an AAPI LGBTQ+ actor who played the lead role in the Broadway musical Be More Chill and received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar award nomination for playing an emotionally conflicted lesbian daughter in the absurdist-comedic film Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Lyris Hung

Lyrus Hung asian-america-pacific-islander
Lyrus Hung

Hung is an AAPI LGBTQ+ artist who has composed music for films, TV shows, dance performances, and video games. She has played with other music greats, like Bono, Quincy Jones, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and the Indigo Girls. She founded the progressive death metal band HUNG, and co-founded the trip-hop comedy/music duo Slanty Eyed Mama.

Hayley Kiyoko

Hayley Kiyoko opens during the Shadow of the City music festival at the Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park on August 25, 2018. 636708321236094811-Kiyoko001.jpg?auto=format&auto=compress
Hayley Kiyoko in 2018

Kiyoko is a Japanese American musician whose breakout single “Girls Like Girls” and debut album Expectations have been praised for unapologetically centering LGBTQ+ narratives, challenging heteronormativity in the music industry, and promoting messages of inclusivity and self-love. 

Angel Lama

Angel Lama, LGBTQ AAPI
Angel Lama

Lama was the first trans Miss Universe Nepal pageant contestant. Her advocacy in events like the United Nations Climate Change Conference has championed intersectional causes like LGBTQ+ equality, environmental justice, and women’s empowerment. 

Bai Ling

Jun 21, 2010; West Hollywood, CA, USA; Bai Ling at the Los Angeles Lakers Victory Party hosted by Magic Johnson at the Trousdale. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports
Bai Ling in 2010

This bisexual Chinese-American actress gained international fame by acting in the 1994 action film The Crow. She won the prestigious “Asian Oscar” for her performance in the 2004 Hong Kong film Three… Extremes. She has worked with directors such as Oliver Stone, George Lucas, and Luc Besson and spoken openly about her alcoholism and mental health struggles.

Chella Man

Chella Man, AAPI, LGBTQ
Chella Man

Chella Man is a deaf, genderqueer, Chinese Jewish actor who began a YouTube channel in 2017 to share his experiences with gender dysphoria and American Sign Language translations to popular songs. He has modeled for Calvin Klein, Gap, and American Eagle and played the mute superhero Jericho in the DC Universe series Titans.

Andy Marra

Andy Marra, Asian-American, LGBTQ
Andy Marra

Marra is a Korean American AAPI LGBTQ+ activist who has served as executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund. There, she has provided legal support for racial justice and trans people navigating discrimination.

Geena Rocero

Geena Rocero, LGBTQ AAPI
Geena Rocero

Rocero, a Filipina American, was the first out trans Miss Universe pageant contestant, appeared in Playboy, and spoke at the TED Conference main stage. Her production company, Gender Proud, has produced award-winning documentaries about authentic trans experiences. She’s a board member of the New York LGBT Center and ambassador for The Stonewall Visitor Center.

Nico Santos

Jan 27, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Nico Santos arrives at the 25th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Dan MacMedan-USA TODAY NETWORK
Nico Santos in 2019

Nico Santos is a Filipino American comedian. Though his family refused to continue paying for his theatre education after he came out, this AAPI LGBTQ+ artist is now famous for appearing on the hit sitcom Superstore and the groundbreaking film Crazy Rich Asians. He married his partner, Zeke Smith, in 2023.

Vikram Seth

vikram-seth-asian-america-pacific-islander
Vikram Seth

Seth is an Indian author of poetry, novels, travel writing, and children’s books. His 1,349-page 1993 masterpiece A Suitable Boy is the longest single-volume English language novel. His writing explores identity, family, and social change in post-independence India.

George Takei

Actor George Takei stands in front of the original set where he played Hikaru Sulu, the helmsman of the USS Enterprise in the television series Star Trek, as he tours the Start Trek: Exploring New Worlds exhibit at the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Mich. on Friday, May 17, 2019. Takei 051719 Kpm 197
George Takei in 2019

Best known for playing Hikaru Sulu on the original Star Trek TV series, Takei came out as gay at age 68, and won multiple awards for his outspoken LGBTQ+ advocacy. He incorporated his experience living with his parents in a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II into his 2012 “legacy project” Allegiance (a stage musical) and his 2019 graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy. He and his husband, Brad Altman, appeared in the 2014 documentary To Be Takei.

Adrian Tam

Adrian Tam, LGBTQ Asian-American Pacific Islander
Adrian Tam

The son of Hong Kongese and Taiwanese immigrants, Tam’s 2020 election victory over a Proud Boys leader made him the first out gay Hawaii legislature member. This young AAPI LGBTQ+ leader has introduced legislation to ban conversion therapy for minors and diversify Hawaii’s economy to be less tourism-dependent. 

Robin Tran

Robin Tran, LGBTQ AAPI
Robin Tran

A lesbian Vietnamese-American stand-up comedian who came out as trans in 2015, this AAPI LGBTQ+ artist released a self-funded 2016 comedy special entitled Santa Doesn’t Like Every Kid and has appeared in numerous comedy specials and festivals. Tran has spoken about bipolar II disorder, agoraphobia, autism, and ADHD. She is engaged to her nonbinary partner, Siege Gary.

Kitty Tsui

kitty-tsui-asian-america-pacific-islander
Kitty Tsui

Born in Hong Kong, Tsui is credited as the first-known Asian American lesbian to publish a book, her 1983 tome Words of a Woman Who Breathes Fire. She co-founded the first Asian American women’s performance group, Unbound Feet, and was a leader in San Francisco’s Asian Pacific Islander queer movement. She won a bronze competitive bodybuilding medal at the 1986 Gay Games and a gold in 1990, challenging traditional notions of beauty and gender.

Urvashi Vaid

urvashi-vaid-asian-america-pacific-islander
Urvashi Vaid

Called “the most prolific LGBTQ organizer in history,” Vaid was an Indian American who became the first woman of color to lead a national LGBTQ+ organization, serving as the National LGBTQ Task Force’s executive director from 1989 to 1992 during the AIDS crisis. Her 1995 book Virtual Equality and 2012 book Irresistible Revolution challenged the mainstream LGBTQ+ movement to embrace intersectional racial, gender, and economic disparities. She is an aunt of Alok Vaid-Menon, a gender non-conforming artist/activist. Vaid died in 2022.

BD Wong

B.D. Wong, LGBTQ AAPI
BD Wong

Wong won a Tony Award for his 1988 Broadway debut as a gender-bending Chinese spy in gay playwright David Henry Hwang’s play M. Butterfly. He voiced the ambiguously bisexual Captain Li Shang in Disney’s 1998 animated film Mulan. This AAPI LGBTQ+ artist has since performed in 32 films, 36 TV programs, six plays, and video games. He wrote a 2003 memoir about surrogacy entitled Following Foo: The Electronic Adventures of the Chestnut Man.

Eugene Lee Yang

eugene-lee-yang-asian-america-pacific-islander
Eugene Lee Yang

A founding member of the viral YouTube group The Try Guys, this Korean-descended performer publicly came out in a 2019 dramatic music video entitled “I’m gay.” He has since used his platform to promote the Trevor Project and the Human Rights Campaign. In 2021, he and the Try Guys published the video “We Need To Talk About Anti-Asian Hate”—they subsequently raised over $140,000 for the AAPI Community Fund.

The future is bright and diverse

The narrative of AAPI LGBTQ+ people is continuously evolving, with new chapters being written by emerging voices and established icons alike. Their stories collectively underscore a powerful message of resilience, unity, and the relentless pursuit of authenticity in a world often constrained by narrow definitions of identity.

These trailblazers, through their diverse experiences and contributions, offer inspiration to anyone at the intersections of diverse identities, advocating for a society where every person can thrive, regardless of their background, identity, or orientation.

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