The GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance (formerly the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance), sometimes GAPA,Gay Asian Pacific Alliance, 2018. https://www.gapa.org is a 501(c)(4) non-profit social welfare organization that was incorporated in February 1988 in San Francisco, California, as a social support group for gay and bisexual Asian Pacific Islander (API) men.Gregory M. Herek, Beverly Greene, May 9, 1995. AIDS, Identity, and Community, SAGE, (cloth), (paper), also available at https://books.google.com/books?id=vYE5DQAAQBAJ&dq=%22GAPA%22+Gay+Asian+Pacific+Alliance&pg=PA115 It engages in direct social, cultural and political advocacy, with a vision of "a powerful queer and transgender Asian and Pacific-Islander (QTAPI) community that is seen, heard, and celebrated," and a mission "to unite our families and allies to build a community through advocacy, inclusion, and love."GAPA https://gapa.org/
History Established in 1988 after months of discussion from several members of the Asian Gay Men's Support Group at Berkeley's Pacific Center for Human Growth, GAPA was formed fundamentally to organize, integrate, and nurture a growing gay and bisexual Asian and Pacific Islander (API) identity and to foster positive role models within the community.GAPA.org https://gapa.org/about-us Since then, GAPA continues as a vanguard for the queer and transgender API community in the San Francisco Bay Area, helping to build institutions like the San Francisco Community Health Center, formerly (until 2018) the API Wellness Center (formed in 1996 by the merger of the Asian AIDS Project [founded in 1987] and the GAPA Community Health Project [founded in 1989]),API Wellness Center https://www.apiwellness.org/history.html San Francisco Community Health Center https://sfcommunityhealth.org/program/the-connection/ and GAPA Runway, one of the longest running SF pageants.GAPA Runway https://www.ebar.com/news/local/184660 Over the years, GAPA has produced shows, concerts, conferences, political engagements, rallies, press releases, and banquets, with the goal of directly engaging in social, cultural and political advocacy to advance and protect the QTAPI community's interests and well-being. In 2021, the organization voted to rename itself from the "Gay Asian Pacific Alliance" to the "GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance".
GAPA Runway Each year since 1988, GAPA has produced Runway, a campy pageant that crowns the next Mr. and Miss GAPAHua, Vanessa, SFGATE.com, San Francisco Chronicle, (2001). Storming the Stage / Pageant is gay Asians' chance to bust out, available at https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/STORMING-THE-STAGE-Pageant-is-gay-Asians-2900371.php who act as representatives of GAPA.Junn, Alex (2018). Elders through the lens Mr. GAPA available at http://efniks.com/elders-through-the-lens/2018/2/16/elders-through-the-lens-mr-gapa In 2017, GAPA Runway took place at Herbst Theatre while a small collection of white supremacists was being run out of San Francisco.Spotswood, Beth, San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 30, 2017. LGBTQ Asian Pacific Islanders get a splash of pageantry available at https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/LGBTQ-Asian-Pacific-Islanders-get-a-splash-of-12162019.php From 2010 until 2019, Runway was hosted and produced by the GAPA Foundation, rebranded in 2020 as the Prism Foundation, a separate 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that empowers the Asian/Pacific Islander LGBTQ community by providing financial assistance to API LGBTQ students applying to or currently attending post-secondary institutions and providing core funding to under-resourced and under-represented San Francisco Bay Area community organizations and projects.Prism Foundation https://theprismfoundation.org/rebrand Since then, GAPA has resumed hosting and producing Runway; due to COVID-19 health restrictions, this will be a virtual event in 2020.GAPA Runway https://gapa.org/runway
GAPA Men's Chorus In 1989, the GAPA Men's Chorus was founded as a social and musical outlet for members.GAPA Men's Chorus https://www.gapa.org/about-us#historyandpeople In November 2015, the GAPA Men's Chorus participated in "Hand in Hand Taipei," the first pan-Asian LGBT choir festival, in April 2019 in "Hand in Hand Tokyo," and in June 2025 in "Hand in Hand Singapore,Hand in Hand Taipei 2015 http://asia.proudvoices.org/handinhandpast-EN.html sponsored by Proud Voices Asia LGBT choir network.Proud Voices Asia http://asia.proudvoices.org/default.html In December 2016, the chorus was invited to sing the national anthem at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, for the Golden State Warriors.GAPA Men's Chorus at the Golden State Warriors Game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5Qtnfc8aEU The GAPA Men's Chorus has been led by music director, Randall Kikukawa, since 1991, and has been a member of GALA Choruses (Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses) since 1999.GAPA Men's Chorus https://www.gapa.org/chorus-members Since September 2019, GAPA Men's Chorus has also operated under the GAPA Fund, a separate 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on funding cultural activities and the arts.GAPA Fund https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.profile&ein=842621586 The late Mayor Ed Lee proclaimed May 15, 2015, Gay Asian Pacific Alliance Men's Chorus Day in San Francisco on the occasion of the chorus' 25th anniversary concert.
GAPA Theatre GAPA TheatreGAPA Theatre https://www.gapa.org/gapa-theatre provides queer and transgender Asian and Pacific Islander men a place to tell their stories and, in doing so, to reach out for support, express their desires, respond to the social, cultural, sexual, and political discourse, or to simply be and feel heard. GAPA Theatre members attempt to connect more deeply with themselves, and in turn, connect more deeply with others and their community.Finding Your Voice by GAPA Theatre, available at https://www.bindlestiffstudio.org/calendar/daluyan-emodied-storytelling-zmfxm-c72ag-7t6ct
GAPA Social GAPA Social provides social events for members, including volleyball, hiking, and TGIF (Thank GAPA It's Friday) happy hours, among other events.GAPA Social https://www.gapa.org/social
GAPA PAC GAPA PAC is a political action committee, sponsored by GAPA to provide monetary contributions in elections and other politically centered events. GAPA PAC provides scholarships to encourage up and coming leaders in the community to gain skills needed to serve publicly or win campaigns, makes election endorsements, and mobilizes members to come out and vote.GAPA PAC https://www.gapa.org/pac
Other activities In 1994, GAPA participated in the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco's Chinatown District, wearing sweatshirts with the phrase "We are one family" written in Chinese. Members of GAPA carried a 25-foot lavender Godzilla.Chiou-ling Yeh, 2008. Making an American Festival: Chinese New Year in San Francisco's Chinatown, , also available at https://books.google.com/books?id=7RwBDcc4CM8C&dq=%22GAPA%22+Gay+Asian+Pacific+Alliance&pg=PA174
Former GAPA Chair Michael Nguyen explains how GAPA's purpose has broadened to advocate for anyone within the LGBTQ API community in the Bay Area.Bajko, Matthew S. Bay Area Reporter, Mar. 9, 2017. Gay API group welcomes patent attorney as new leader available at https://issuu.com/bayareareporter/docs/march_9_2017
On March 21, 2021, in response to the mass murders of Asian women in massage parlors in the Atlanta area and in response to the ongoing violence against Asian lives in the Bay Area,Laird, Cynthia, Bay Area Reporter, Mar. 19, 2021. GAPA to host solidarity rally in the Castro Sunday after violence against AAPIs, available at https://www.ebar.com/news/latest_news/303147 GAPA organized an LGBTQ Solidarity March for Asian Lives from the Castro to Chinatown.Betty Yu, KPIX, Mar. 21, 2021. San Francisco Rallies Bring Diverse Communities Together to Condemn Asian Hate, available at https://news.yahoo.com/san-francisco-rally-brings-diverse-003200408.html
On May 18, 2021, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution officially declaring May 22–29, 2021, the nation's first QTAPI (Queer Transgender Asian Pacific Islander) Week in the City and County of San Francisco.Bajko, Matthew, Bay Area Reporter, May 18, 2021. SF to mark nation's first LGBTQ API Week, available at https://www.ebar.com/news/latest_news//305060 Former GAPA Chair Michael Nguyen, co-founder of the Bay Area QTAPI Coalition in 2017,San Francisco to declare country's first Queer and Transgender Asian and Pacific Islanders (QTAPI) Week May 22nd-May 29th, available at https://www.eriegaynews.com/news/article.php?recordid=202106sfqtapi was the lead organizer of the week-long series of live and virtual events.Sasmazel, Zeynep, Hornet, May 21, 2021. San Francisco Announces the First Queer and Transgender Asian and Pacific Islanders (QTAPI) Week, available at https://hornet.com/stories/countrys-first-qtapi-week/
Affiliations GAPA Men's Chorus GAPA Fund Prism Foundation (formerly GAPA Foundation) GALA Choruses (Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses)
References