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Representation of gay Asian men in the media

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Representation of gay Asian men in the media

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Content Representation of Gay Asian Men in the Media
by
Isaac Masayoshi Takeuchi
Rossier School of Education
University Of Southern California
A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty
In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for The Degree of
Doctor Of Education
August 2024

The committee for Isaac M. Takeuchi certifies the approval of this Dissertation
Rufus Tony Spann
Don Trahan, Jr.
Marsha Riggio, Committee Chair
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2024

© Copyright by Isaac M. Takeuchi 2024
All Rights Reserved

iv
Abstract
This study will highlight the lived experiences gay Asian men (GAM) have with
traditional media (film/television), social media, and news media. The purpose of the study is to
explore how representation (or lack of) on these media affects GAM. Specifically, it addresses
the problem of the emasculation of GAM through negative stereotypes perpetuated by the media
(e.g., being short, skinny, effeminate, submissive, passive, less sexually attractive, etc.). Multiple
theories, including Intersectionality, Queer Theory, Asian Critical Theory, and Cultivation
Theory will help guide the study. The qualitative interviews conducted use a phenomenological
approach and will examine the perceptions of eight GAM and the challenges they have with the
media. The data collected from the eight interviews will be used to help offer solutions to these
various issues. Hopefully, this study will add valuable information to the limited literature on
GAM and the media, and GAM in general.
Keywords: gay Asian men, media, Intersectionality, Queer Theory, Asian Critical
Theory, racism, emasculation, visibility, stereotypes, representation

v
Dedication
This is dedicated to my parents, Keiko and Calvin Takeuchi, who have sacrificed so
much to give me the wonderful education I have received. Especially to my Kyōiku Mama, who
immigrated here from Japan and instilled the importance of education in me from a very early
age. I hope that I have finally made you proud.

vi
Acknowledgments
Much Aloha to:
My chair, Dr. Riggio, and committee members Dr. Spann & Dr. Trahan
My Inquiry 2 & 3 Professor Dr. Ayesha Madni, your soothing music helped guide me
through the last couple months of this process
All of Cohort 22 for your love and support from the very beginning—LFG
Dr. Doris Cohen, my good friend since the “Hinga Days”
Dr. Jalaima Nichols, who talked me off the ledge multiple times during this process
Dr. Zack Yarde, for all of his counseling and technological support since Doug’s class
My brother Nathan Takeuchi, who always told me I could make it happen
My friend Leslie Engel, who started me down this path
My spin friend & USC buddy Julie Chobdee, I will miss your wellness emails
My friend since the CAA days Angelina Chen, who found me two interviewees
My other friends since the CAA days Matt Mills and Kim Wiethorn—COT 4-EVA
My brunch besties Sheila Walcott and Stevenson Greene, for your hours of talk therapy
My roommate Jayson Sampayan, for putting up with me throughout this entire process
RuPaul Charles, who helped me feel ok about myself in my formative years
The University of Hawai’i Men’s Volleyball Team, for providing me with much needed
mental breaks from writing (get well soon Spyros)
And to Noa Kirel, who gave me the power of the Unicorn - a light for me in dark places
.

vii
Table of Contents
Abstract.......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication....................................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... vi
List of Tables................................................................................................................................... x
List of Figures................................................................................................................................ xi
List of Theories/Change Model .................................................................................................... xii
Chapter One: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1
Background of the Problem......................................................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem............................................................................................................ 4
Purpose of the Study and Research Questions............................................................................ 7
Significance of the Study ............................................................................................................ 8
Definition of Terms..................................................................................................................... 8
Assumptions, Limitations, Delimitations, and Positionality......................................................11
Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 13
Organization of the Study ......................................................................................................... 13
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature......................................................................................... 15
Search Description .................................................................................................................... 15
Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................. 15
Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................................. 17

viii
Review of Research................................................................................................................... 25
Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 55
Chapter Three: Methodology........................................................................................................ 56
Research Design........................................................................................................................ 56
Research Questions................................................................................................................... 56
Setting........................................................................................................................................ 57
Participants................................................................................................................................ 57
Data Collection.......................................................................................................................... 59
Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 69
Chapter Four: Presentation of Research ....................................................................................... 70
Demographic Data..................................................................................................................... 70
Findings..................................................................................................................................... 71
Conclusion............................................................................................................................... 101
Chapter Five: Summary, Implications, Conclusions................................................................... 102
Summary of Findings.............................................................................................................. 102
Conclusions............................................................................................................................. 102
Recommendations....................................................................................................................110
Conclusion................................................................................................................................117
References....................................................................................................................................118
Appendix A: Email Letter........................................................................................................... 138

ix
Appendix B: Recruitment Letter................................................................................................. 139
Appendix C: Informed Consent.................................................................................................. 140
Appendix D: Demographic Survey............................................................................................. 143
Appendix E: Interview Protocol ................................................................................................. 144
Appendix F: Audit Trail.............................................................................................................. 146
Appendix G: Member Checks .....................................................................................................152

x
List of Tables
Table 1: Data Sources ................................................................................................................ 59
Table 2: Profile of Participants .................................................................................................. 71
Table 3: Research Question 1 Themes....................................................................................... 72
Table 4: Research Question 2 Themes....................................................................................... 82
Table 5: Lack of Visibility Opening Statements........................................................................ 84
Table 6: Research Question 3 Themes....................................................................................... 93
Table 7: Participant Responses to Themes............................................................................... 103

xi
List of Figures
Figure 1: Intersectionality Theory ............................................................................................... 16
Figure 2: Conceptual Framework ................................................................................................ 24
Figure 3: Queer Media Theory .................................................................................................... 26
Figure 4: Percentage of LGBTQ+-inclusive films that passed the Vito Russo Test,
By Year Chart............................................................................................................... 36
Figure 5: Share of All Theatrical and Streaming Films Roles, by Race, 2022 ............................ 39
Figure 6: Share of All Theatrical and Streaming Films Roles, by Race, 2022 ............................ 40
Figure 7: Representation of Asian-Pacific Islander Characters, 2022-23.................................... 44
Figure 8: Bullying and Suicide Risk among LGBTQ Youth ....................................................... 45
Figure 9: Gay or Asian? by Whitney McNally ............................................................................ 48
Figure 10: The LCA Action Model.............................................................................................113

xii
List of Theories/Change Model
Intersectionality Theoretical framework: rooted in the premise that human
experience is jointly shaped by multiple social positions (e.g., race,
gender), and cannot be adequately understood by considering
social positions independently (Bauer, et. al., 2021).
QuAsian Theory Conceptual framework: synthesizes Queer Theory and AsianCrit
by combating negative Asian American stereotypes (e.g., Model
Minority, Emasculation, Exoticization, etc.) through visibility in
the LGBTQ+ community.
Homosexism Tenet of QuAsian Theory: a prejudiced attitude or discriminatory
practices against LGBTQ+ people by other LGBTQ+ people; it
opposes the notion that there is an “ideal” image of LGBTQ+
individuals.
Effeminism Tenet of Homosexism: the dislike of, or hostility towards, women
and/or individuals who present as feminine, especially within the
LGBTQ+ community.
Queer Media Theory Literature review framework: calls for the normalization of
homosexuality through positive representation in the media
(traditional, social, news).
LCA Action Model The Lights! Camera! Action! (LCA) Model: transformational
change model rooted in critical theories such as Critical Race
Theory (CRT) and Queer Theory.

1
Chapter One: Introduction
This study addressed the problem of the emasculation of gay Asian men (GAM) through
negative stereotypes perpetuated by the media (e.g., being short, skinny, effeminate, submissive,
passive, less sexually attractive, etc.). This image [of GAM] does not carry any meaning or
‘signify’ on its own but can only come into existence in relation to what it is considered not to
be—the White, tall, masculine body that is not only socially idealized, but also commonly seen
as desirable in the West (Poon & Ho, 2008). This image of male bodies stands in stark contrast to
that of GAM who are often rendered invisible and undesirable as sexual or long-term partners in
the mainstream gay community (Poon & Ho, 2008). Furthermore, media images targeting the
gay community often ritualize racial subordination, with GAM portrayed with traditional
feminine characteristics: being smaller in size, having a feminine touch, in a supporting role, and
presented in an inferior position (Han, 2009).
Background of the Problem
The emasculation of GAM is rooted in the treatment of Chinese immigrants, dating back
to the 1800s. In 1875, Congress passed the Page Law, which enforced a general restriction on
Asian female immigration; also under the 1922 Cable Act, a female citizen, whether White or
nonWhite, who married an “alien ineligible of citizenship” lost her own United States citizenship
(Park, 2013). Such exclusion laws helped to emasculate Chinese men by restricting their access
to heterosexual norms and ideals such as nuclear family formations. Furthermore, “ethnic
antagonism” contributed to the feminization of Asian American men by forcing them into
professions typically associated with women: cook, waiter, tailor, and laundryman; from a
historical vantage point, these “feminized” professions have helped to create and stabilize an
identity and image of the Asian American male subject that continues to linger today in various

2
stereotypes (Park, 2013). Moreover, Chinese males’ “long braided queue,” “oblique almond
eyes,” “catgut voice,” and “flashy silk tunic” along with their short and slim figures were
characterized not only as novel but also as feminine by Whites (Chen, 1996).
There has been a longstanding history of marginalization and negative portrayals of
Asian American Men (AAM) in Western media. Traditionally, Asian masculinity and
appearances have been marginalized by the aggressive, highly muscular, and “macho” concept of
Western masculinity ideals; given the idealization of White hegemonic masculinity norms, AAM
have been denigrated as assuming a subordinate masculinity that falls short of hegemonic
principles of dominance, White norms, competitiveness, and privilege (Keum, 2016). These
oppressive ideals have taken a strong symbolic presence in the media as AAM are often
portrayed with emasculated or feminized stereotypes of AAM, negative body images (e.g.,
unflattering, short, and lacking masculine physique), leadership incapability, and villainous roles
(Keum, 2016).
Traditional Media
Traditional media represents visual medias, such as movies and television. The primary
focus of this media is to entertain. Throughout the 1900s, stereotypical images of AAM were
seen in films, television shows, and Broadway shows. The buck-toothed bumbling image of
AAM could be seen in movies such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Edwards, 1961), while the nerdy,
lustful image could be seen in Sixteen Candles (Hughes, 1961; Shek, 2006). 2 Broke Girls (2011)
created by Sex and the City's Michael Patrick King, is the story of two White waitresses who
work in a Brooklyn restaurant whose boss is Asian-American, Han Lee; short, asexual and workobsessed, Lee is ridiculed for his broken English and failing to "get" US culture—in one episode
Dennings' character says, after a run-in with Lee: "You can't tell an Asian he made a mistake.

3
He'll go in back and throw himself on a sword" (Elan, 2012). In the Broadway production of M.
Butterfly (Hwang, 1989), the effeminate image of AAM became intertwined with issues of
sexuality, with the lead character being a cross-dressing Chinese male spy who falls in love with
a British male spy (Shek, 2006).
Social Media
Social media represents platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, etc.
This media is generated exclusively on the internet. Asian Americans experience racism across
all social media platforms. For example, the #thisis2016 hashtag was created by New York
Times columnist and editor, Michael Luo, who first composed a tweet in 2016, which later
turned into a longer open letter in The New York Times, regarding an interaction with a woman
he encountered in New York City: “well-dressed woman on Upper East Side, annoyed by our
stroller, yells: ‘Go back to China…go back to your f—ing country.’ #thisis2016” (Woo & AlHlou, 2016). After sharing his experience, Luo tweeted again, calling for others to share their
own experiences with anti-Asian microaggressions and racism: “Asian Americans, tweet at me
your own racist encounters, and I’ll try to collect them. Hashtag it like I did #thisis2016.” Asian
Pacific Islanders (API) responded on Twitter with their own stories of experiences with racism,
resulting in an outpouring of over 5,000 tweets, utilizing the #thisis2016 hashtag (Azhar, et. al,
2021).
There is little data about the lived experiences of Asian Americans in the early years of
social media. Nationally representative surveys have attempted to capture the prevalence of
Asian American cyberbullying; the National Center for Education Statistics found that in 2001,
5.5% of Asian Americans aged 12–18 experienced cyberbullying, whereas Whites (10.6%),
Blacks (7.0%), and Hispanics (7.6%) experienced slightly higher rates (Charmaraman, et. al.,

4
2011). Cyberbullying has been defined as “the use of information and communications
technology to intimidate, harass, victimize, or bully an individual or a group of individuals”
(Bhat, 2008).
News Media
News media represents broadcast news, newspaper/newsmagazine articles, and
advertising/public relations campaigns. The focus of this media is to inform, not entertain. The
news media had a large part in creating the “Model Minority” myth in the U.S. The myth sought
to explain the success of Asian Americans, and in particular, the notion that they pulled
themselves up by their bootstraps without governmental support was used to pit them against
other minorities (Sun, et. al., 2015). In their study of U.S. magazine advertisements’ depictions
of Asian Americans, Paek and Shah (2003) found the subjects were frequently portrayed with
financial success, technology-savvy skills, academic excellence, and superiority over other
minorities. Later, Lee and Joo (2005) updated this research and concluded that the “model
minority” stereotype continues to dominate the representations of Asian Americans in
advertising.
Statement of the Problem
This problem is important to address because stereotypes perpetuated by the various
medias have negative effects on members of the LGBTQ+ community. Gay men are not
considered masculine enough because they break the boundary of heteronormativity—
heterosexuality as normal; thus, society pressures gay men to negotiate who they are according
to hegemonic masculinity in order to compensate for their same-sex sexual preference (Eguchi,
2009). Effeminate gay men are oftentimes labeled as pissy, bitchy, or queens within the gay
community; thus, these gendered semantics communicate that the power struggle of gender is

5
also at the core of the gay male identity negotiation processes and their everyday interpersonal
relations (Eguchi, 2009).
LGBTQ media studies, as defined by Julian A. Rodriguez (2019), spans hundreds of
works and has distinct characteristics. First, in identifying the category of “LGBTQ media,”
studies focus on media forms that involve LGBTQ identities, individuals, characters, and themes,
as well as media with which LGBTQ‐identified people engage. Second, scholars consider varied
dimensions of LGBTQ media practice, production, reception, and use. Third, works discuss a
range of media, including and especially newspapers, magazines, television, film, and internet
platforms. Fourth, research draws from diverse disciplines: media studies, internet studies, gay
and lesbian studies, communication, psychology, sociology, and history, to name only some.
Last, given this diversity, methodological orientations, theoretical frameworks, and findings
differ significantly.
Traditional Media
The persecution of the LGBTQ+ community in traditional media can be traced back to
the 1930s. The Motion Picture Production Code, called the Hays Code after creator Will Hays,
was adopted by major Hollywood studios in 1934 as a self-censorship mechanism; the
stipulations of the Code forbid ‘any inference of sexual perversion’—in 1930s terms, this meant
any inference of homosexuality (Bridges, 2018). As the Hays Code lost its sway in the wake of a
U.S. Supreme Court decision that gave film and TV productions the right to free speech under
the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, hints of homosexuality began to appear on-screen,
though mostly through subtext (Bridges, 2018).
Historically, representations of gay men and lesbian women in traditional media have
been sparse and selective. When presented in mainstream film or television, gay characters were

6
almost exclusively portrayed negatively, as either villains or victims; they were rendered as
problems to be solved and almost always reflected gendered stereotypes that characterize gay
men as effeminate and lesbians as masculine (Shugart, 2003). Attendant to the emergent gay
rights movement in the 1970s (post-Stonewall), although standard negative tropes did not
disappear, mainstream film and television began to feature more positive portrayals of gay
characters (Shugart, 2003).
Social Media
The LGBTQ+ community has also had to deal with issues of censorship and homophobia
with social media websites. In April 2018, the owner of Transthetics, a business that provides
penile prosthetics for transgender men, found that YouTube terminated his account without
warning. YouTube outlines exceptions to its policies against nudity and sexual content; most
notably, it allows content that is informational and educational (Rodriguez, 2023). Even so, the
platform deemed Transthetics’ videos offensive despite them providing product background and
educational information to a historically excluded group (Rodriguez, 2023). Just two months
after the denied appeal, YouTube publicly declared to LGBTQ+ YouTubers: “we are so proud of
the contributions you have made to the platform; you’ve helped make YouTube what it is today”
(YouTube, 2018).
LGBTQ+ creators currently have a significant presence on social media, but few studies
have been done about representation on early platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube. Both
young and adult LGBTQ+ populations have been increasingly depicted in various types of
traditional (characteristically offline) media, e.g., television, movies, and literature (McInroy &
Craig, 2015). However, young people’s experiences with these traditional depictions have not
been adequately considered in the contemporary context characterized by the rapidly increasing

7
prevalence of new (typically online) media (e.g., internet, social media, and online videosharing; McInroy & Craig, 2015).
News Media
The masses received their first exposure to gay men and the gay lifestyle on national
television on March 7, 1967, with the airing of the CBS Reports documentary The Homosexuals.
The goal of this documentary series was to “delve into social issues that were too controversial
for most [other] programs”, and an installment about homosexuality promised to catch the
public’s attention (Hart, 2000). To represent the diversity of gay men in America, the producers
arranged interviews with a variety of men, such as a sailor, a rodeo rider, a truck driver, and a
female impersonator; despite this reality, during the production phase of this documentary, a
prominent CBS correspondent referred to the project as the “pity a poor homosexual” show
(Alwood, 1996). Perhaps that is because some of the interview subjects were shown lying on an
analyst’s couch and many others were presented with their faces hidden in the leafy shadows of
potted plants as if they were filled with shame; perhaps it is because the program featured
assessments from psychiatrists such as “the fact that somebody’s homosexual automatically rules
out the possibility that he will remain happy for long,” or uncomplimentary self-assessments by
gay men such as “I know that inside now I’m sick—I’m not sick just sexually; I’m sick in a lot
of ways” (Alwood, 1996).
Purpose of the Study and Research Questions
The purpose of this study is to explore how representation (or lack of) on traditional
media, social media, and news media affect GAM. Through the participant’s lived experiences,
the study will show what kind of influence negative stereotypes and the lack of visibility have on

8
GAM. Aligned with this purpose, the following research questions helped examine this problem
of practice:
1. What are the lived experiences of GAM in relation to the media?
2. What are the challenges GAM have with the media?
3. How can the problems GAM have with the media be resolved?
Significance of the Study
While research establishes how stereotypes perpetuated by the media negatively affect
the LGBTQ+ community, few studies examine the distinct ways that stereotypes specifically
affect Asian American members of the LGBTQ+ community. Therefore, the intention of this
study is to bring attention to how representation in the media affects GAM. Negative stereotypes
created by the media have serious effects on the mental and physical health of GAM, who are at
the intersection of homophobia and racism. Through the recommendations in Chapter Five, the
various media outlets can help combat these stereotypes of LGBTQ+ Asian Americans through
positive representations.
Definition of Terms
The following are brief definitions for key terms related to this study. These definitions
are central to understanding the design and approach to this dissertation. There is a focus on
terms central to the lived experiences of GAM.
Ahistoricism examines how the grand narratives have been constructed and disseminated
through culture, media, and education.
Asian Critical Theory (AsianCrit) is a conceptual lens for understanding the ways in
which race and racism shape the lives of Asian Americans in society.

9
Asianization refers to the reality that racism and nativistic racism are pervasive aspects of
American society, and society racializes Asian Americans in distinct ways.
Cognitive Empathy means that you can understand another person's perspective; it is also
referred to as perspective-taking or putting yourself in someone else's shoes.
Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a cross-disciplinary examination—by social and civil
rights scholars and activists—of how laws, social and political movements, and media shape, and
are shaped by, social conceptions of race and ethnicity.
Cultivation Theory (CT) assumes that the repeated and extensive use of mass media will
entice audiences to absorb the broadcast information into their worldview, successively
homogenizing viewers into a singular mainstream.
Effeminism is the dislike of, or hostility towards, women and/or individuals who present
as feminine, especially within the LGBTQ+ community.
To emasculate someone means to deprive them of strength, vigor, or spirit; also, to
deprive them of virility or procreative power.
Exoticization is the practice of portraying or regarding someone or something as exotic;
the practice of exoticizing someone or something.
Experiential Knowledge in narrative inquiry is the life histories and stories of the
participants.
Femmephobia is the dislike of, or hostility towards, women and/or individuals who
present as feminine (femmes).
Heteronormativity is the assumption that the “default,” or “correct” sexual orientation is
straight (heterosexual); it assumes that “normal” relationships exist only between a man and a
woman.

10
Heterosexism is the discrimination or prejudice against gay people on the assumption that
heterosexuality is the normal sexual orientation; it refers to societal-level ideologies and patterns
of institutionalized oppression of non-heterosexual people.
Homophobia is an irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality
or gay people; it is typically employed to describe individual antigay attitudes and behaviors.
Homonormativity is the privileging of heteronormative ideals and constructs onto
LGBTQ+ culture and identity.
Homosexism is a prejudiced attitude or discriminatory practices against LGBTQ+ people
by other LGBTQ+ people; the theory opposes the notion that there is an “ideal” image of
LGBTQ+ individuals.
Intersectionality provides a framework that includes a constellation of identities in
relation to privilege and oppression.
The Model Minority Myth is a sociological phenomenon that refers to the stereotype of
certain minority groups, particularly Asian Americans, as successful, well-adjusted, and as
demonstrating that there is little or no need for social or economic assistance for the same or
different minority groups.
Muscle Dysmorphia refers to the delusional or exaggerated belief that one's own body is
too small, too skinny, insufficiently muscular, or insufficiently lean, although in most cases, the
individual's build is normal or muscular already.
Normativity is the phenomenon in human societies of designating some actions or
outcomes as good, desirable, or permissible, and others as bad, undesirable, or impermissible.

11
QuAsian Theory (QuAsian) synthesizes Queer Theory and AsianCrit by combating
negative Asian American stereotypes (such as Model Minority, Emasculation, Exoticization,
etc.) through visibility in the LGBTQ+ community.
Queer Media Theory (QMT) calls for the normalization of homosexuality through
positive representation in the media.
Queer Theory challenges the notion of defined and finite identity categories, as well as
the norms that create a binary of good versus bad sexualities.
Racism is the systemic oppression of a racial group to the social, economic, and political
advantage of another.
Sexual Racism is an individual's sexual preference for specific races; it is an inclination
towards or against potential sexual or romantic partners on the basis of perceived racial identity.
Sizeism is prejudice directed at people based on their size; this type of discrimination can
take a number of forms, ranging from refusing to hire someone because they are considered to be
too short or too tall, to treating overweight and underweight individuals with disdain.
Social Justice: commitment to Social Justice highlights the notion that all critical theories
are dedicated to advocating for the end of all forms of oppression.
Assumptions, Limitations, Delimitations, and Positionality
This section comprises four parts. The first is the assumptions I made in regard to the
research. The second is the limitations of the research, followed by delimitations. Lastly, I
discuss my positionality in relation to the study.
Assumptions
An assumption in this study is that GAM feel emasculated by images they see in the
various forms of media in the United States. These images are what cause negative stereotypes of

12
GAM in the predominantly White LGBTQ+ community. Another assumption is that although
there are some positive portrayals of Asian men (both straight and gay), most media images
portray them as diminutive, weak, and less sexually attractive.
Limitations
One limitation is the minimal research available on the emasculation of GAM through
negative stereotypes created by the media. More research is necessary to address GAM’s unique
struggles that may be shaped by images in the media. While some research does exist, few
studies focus specifically on GAM and their lived experiences. Another limitation is the small
sample size of the study. The time commitment of face-to-face interviews makes it difficult to
interview a larger group of GAM. The goal of this study is to inform current research on the
experiences of the eight participants and to encourage future research on this underrepresented
population.
Delimitations
A delimitation of this research is to only include Asian Americans in the study and
exclude other races in the LGBTQ+ community. The focus of this research is the emasculation of
GAM, which is unique to their lived experiences. This is the opposite of the hyper-masculinized
image and perceived menacing sexual threats associated with Black men (Park, 2013). Another
delimitation is to only include gay men in the study. For Asian American women, the
intersections of race and gender can produce stereotypes of hypersexual and submissive sex
objects (Museus & Iftikar, 2013). Once again, I chose to focus specifically on the emasculation
of GAM.

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Positionality
I am a GAM, which puts me in a unique position of experiencing distinct, multiple
oppressions. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I continue to fight against heterosexism,
especially from my conservative Asian immigrant family. Post-millennium modern Asian
American communities may view gay relationships as barriers to familial duties such as adding
value to the family’s reputation, marriage to the opposite sex, and responsibility to procreate
(Valdes, et al., 2021). Furthermore, as a Person of Color (POC), I also continue to endure various
forms of racism in my life, including from the LGBTQ+ community. Sexual stereotypes and
fetishization have similarly ranked high in structuring the online dating experience and have
consequently evoked a body of research; GAM are stereotyped as effeminate, submissive, docile,
and are sexually constructed as “bottoms” (Stacey & Forbes, 2022).
Conclusion
This first chapter provided an overview of what to expect from the study. The problem of
the emasculation of GAM through negative stereotypes perpetuated by the media (e.g., being
short, skinny, effeminate, submissive, passive, less sexually attractive, etc.) is addressed.
Furthermore, the purpose of the study is to explore how representation (or lack of) on traditional
media, social media, and news media affect GAM. Moreover, while existing research establishes
how stereotypes perpetuated by the media negatively affect the LGBTQ+ community, this study
examines the distinct ways that stereotypes specifically affect Asian American members of the
LGBTQ+ community.
Organization of the Study
This study is organized into five chapters. Chapter One is the introduction, which
contains the background of the problem, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research

14
questions, significance of the study, definition of terms, and assumptions, limitations,
delimitations, and positionality. Chapter Two presents a review of current research on the
centrality of the dissertation literature review in research preparation. Chapter Three describes
the methodology, research design, and procedures for this investigation. Chapter Four details
how the data was analyzed and provides both a written and graphic summary of the results.
Finally, Chapter Five is an interpretation and discussion of the results, as it relates to the existing
body of research related to the dissertation topic.

15
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
The purpose of this study was to explore how representation (or lack of) on traditional
media, social media, and news media affect GAM. It aimed to provide counter-stories, which is a
method of telling the stories of those people whose experiences are not often told, i.e., those on
the margins of society (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002). This chapter begins with the search terms that
were used for the literature review, followed by the theoretical and conceptual frameworks used
in this study. It ends with a full review of the research supporting the study.
Search Description
For the review of research, the two search engines used were Google Scholar and the
USC Libraries. The search terms used were Asian Critical Theory, Asianization, Cognitive
Empathy, Critical Race Theory, Cultivation Theory, Emasculation, Experiential Knowledge,
Femmephobia, Gay Asian Men, Homonormativity, Homophobia, Intersectionality, Lived
Experiences, Media, Movies, Muscle Dysmorphia, Negative Stereotypes, News Media, Positive
Representation, Queer Theory, Racism, Sexual Racism, Sizeism, Social Justice, Social Media,
Television, and Visibility.
Theoretical Framework
Given the difficulty of situating the experiences of multiply marginalized people into
existing frameworks that view identity as singular categories that are either in conflict, in need of
integration, or existing as a duality, a number of scholars called for examining identities as being
“intersectional” (Crenshaw, 1991). Intersectionality provides a framework that includes a
constellation of identities in relation to privilege and oppression; identity is not static but
contingent and contextual and the simultaneous effects of multiple identities are noted—
intersectionality theory includes an operational approach and epistemological position in

16
combating multiple forms of oppression within and through various movements of social change
(Cooper, 2017). Furthermore, intersectionality provides a systemic and structural analysis of the
complexities and relationships of both power and identity while recognizing the variability and
contingency of specific manifestations of oppression (Cooper, 2017).
Intersectionality is notably relevant to this problem of practice. As a theoretical
framework, it examines the ways that multiple social identities intersect at the personal level to
shape individual experiences in order to shed light on interlocking systems of power and
domination at the societal level; “the intersectionality perspective maintains that multiple
identities construct novel experiences that are distinctive and not necessarily divisible into their
component identities” while also keeping in mind the larger societal forces that constructs what it
means to be a member of any group (Parent, et. al., 2013). At the intersection of homophobia and
racism, GAM suffer homophobia from the largely straight Asian American community, and
racism from the largely White gay community.
Figure 1
Intersectionality Theory
Note. Source: Misty McPhetridge, BSSW

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Conceptual Framework
In the convergent case of GAM, neither Queer Theory nor Asian Critical Theory
(AsianCrit) sufficiently encapsulate the distinct issues they deal with in a hegemonic American
society. There is a clear divide between a sexuality-based LGBTQ+ cultural identity and
resulting theories and ones that are based on race or ethnicity with the two paradigms rarely
intersecting to form a comprehensive legitimate discourse (Massaquoi, 2015). Queer theoretical
formations have historically focused on Western examples, with primary emphasis placed on
White, middle-class gay life; this does not produce a critical mass or a coherent body of
published works or authors (Massaquoi, 2015). What lies at the crossroads of where Queer
Theory and AsianCrit meet? Queer-Asian Theory (QuAsian) synthesizes the two theories by
combating negative Asian American stereotypes (e.g., Model Minority, Emasculation,
Exoticization, etc.) through visibility in the LGBTQ+ community.
Queer Theory
Queer Theory provides a foundation for QuAsian Theory. Queer Theory goes beyond
exploring aspects of gay and lesbian identity and experience. It questions taken-for-granted
assumptions about relationships, identity, gender, and sexual orientation; it seeks to explode rigid
normalizing categories into possibilities that exist beyond the binaries of man/woman,
masculine/feminine, and gay/straight (Meyer, 2007). "Queer" is understood as a challenge to
traditional understandings of sexual identity by deconstructing the categories, the binaries, and
language that supports them; what the concept of queer truly seeks to do is disrupt and challenge
traditional modes of thought and, by standing outside them, examine and dismantle them.
(Meyer, 2007).

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Based on the research done for this review, most (if not all) of the founding scholars of
Queer Theory were White, affluent, cisgender, and American. Queer theory has been criticized
by queers of color for its focus on White gay male identities at the cost of women, POC, and
transgender people (Calafell & Nakayama, 2016). Further critiques connected to the Whiteness
of queer theory are homonormativity and homonationalism, which mean that gays and lesbians
may be performing identities in ways that are consistent with larger ideologies of
heteronormativity and with White U.S. nationalism (Calafell & Nakayama, 2016).
In response to this lack of intersectionality, several alternative theories have formed. The
term quare is from the African American vernacular for queer; Quare Studies was introduced by
E. Patrick Johnson in 2001 and is a theory of and for gays and lesbians of color (Johnson, 2001).
Furthermore, Kuaer Theory was introduced by Wenshu Lee in 2003 and applies womanist
concepts to expand on the foundation built by Johnson’s Quare Studies; but it notably adds a
transnational perspective and emphasizes that queer theorists must also highlight the
relationships between sexualities and nation, nationality, power, and culture as the local,
national, and transnational levels (Lescure, 2023). Moreover, Joteria Identity and Consciousness
was introduced by Anita Tijerna Revilla and Jose Manuel Santillana in 2014 and tells their
queerstories as “counter-stories” in the CRT tradition to position themselves and illustrate that
there is a direct connection between who they are as individuals and how they participate in an
activist and academic community of queer Latina/os and Chicana/os (Tijerna-Revilla &
Santillana, 2014).
Asian Critical Theory (AsianCrit)
Asian Critical Theory (AsianCrit) specifies QuAsian Theory to Asian Americans. The
theory is firmly situated within CRT but is also informed by Asian American Studies scholarship

19
and therefore specifically tailored to Asian American experiences, issues, and concerns (Iftikar &
Museus, 2018). The AsianCrit framework, as laid out by Iftikar and Museus (2018), consists of
seven interrelated tenets that can be used to understand how White supremacy shapes the
experiences of Asian Americans:
• Asianization is grounded in the reality that people within the US only become ‘Asian’
because of White Supremacy and the racialization processes that it engenders.
• Transnational contexts emphasize the importance of situating Asian Americans and the
operation of White supremacy within a network of global relationships, at individual and
larger policy and structural levels.
• (Re)constructive history is founded on the reality that Asian Americans are typically
invisible and voiceless in US history.
• Strategic (anti)essentialism builds on the argument that race is a social construction that
is shaped and reshaped by economic, political, and social forces.
• Intersectionality is the notion that White supremacy and other systems of oppression and
exploitation (e.g., imperialism, colonialism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, etc.) intersect
to mutually shape the conditions within which Asian Americans exist, their racial
identities, and other social identities (e.g., gender, sexual orientation, and class identities),
as well as their everyday experiences.
• Story, theory, and praxis are founded on CRT scholars’ claims that racially marginalized
people’s experiential knowledge can serve to challenge dominant, White, European
epistemology and offer an alternative and empowering epistemological perspective that is
grounded in the realities of POC.

20
• Commitment to social justice highlights the notion that AsianCrit is dedicated to
advocating for the end of all forms of oppression and exploitation. That is, AsianCrit
aims to eradicate racism, sexism, heterosexism, capitalist exploitation, and other systemic
forms of dehumanization and domination.
QuAsian Theory
So where do Asian Americans who identify as LGBTQ+ fit into all of this? Combining
the two aforementioned theories, QuAsian Theory combats negative Asian American stereotypes
(e.g., Model Minority, Emasculation, Exoticization, etc.) through visibility in the LGBTQ+
community; it opposes the notion that there is an “ideal” image of LGBTQ+ individuals.
Negative stereotypes of GAM can be negated through increased visibility in traditional, social,
and news medias. There are five tenets of QuAsian Theory, which are outlined below:
Homosexism
Homosexism is a prejudiced attitude or discriminatory practices against LGBTQ+ people
by other LGBTQ+ people. It should not be confused with Heterosexism, which refers to
behaviors, attitudes, and belief systems denigrating and dehumanizing those who do not identify
as heterosexual or “straight” (Keum, et. al., 2023). Homosexism covers many subcategories,
including the following:
• Politics of Appearance/Lookism
• Ageism
• Classism
• Ableism
• Biphobia
• Transphobia

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Many other subcategories are included within Homosexism. However, the three main
categories of this tenet are Racism, Sizeism, and Effeminism. These three concepts are detailed
below:
Racism. Racism is rife within the LGBTQ+ community. Sexual racism is a widespread
phenomenon that negatively affects racial minority members in gay communities. In general,
racial minority members have significantly less opportunities in sexual and romantic partner
selection (Lim & Anderson, 2021). Disadvantages in partner selection due to sexual racism can
reduce self-esteem and social connectedness, impede healthy relationship seeking, prevent
positive ethnic identity formation, and instill feelings of competition with other racial minority
members (Lim & Anderson, 2021). Scholars of race argue that sexual racism is an extension of
White colonialism and supremacy embedded into the cultural framework of society (Conner,
2023). At the top of this hierarchy are gay White men (GWM) who are seen as most desirable,
and nonWhites along a continuum of desirability—and is the way the Dubosian concept of the
color line is maintained; the result of this stratified sexual hierarchy is a different lived
experiences for those based on their race and ethnicity (Conner, 2023).
Sizeism. Use of the “Goldilocks rule” (i.e., too big, too small, just right) to judge health,
aesthetics, or suitability for social roles (e.g., jobs, parenthood) is sizeism—the discrimination
against individuals on the basis of their body size/weight (Chrisler & Barney, 2017). Sizeism can
lead to muscle dysmorphia among gay men. Evidence from studies of gay (presumably
cisgender) men suggests elevated body image concerns and eating pathology relative to
heterosexual men and the prototypical body ideal among gay men is characterized by lean
muscularity (Nagata, et. al., 2022). Specifically, community-based studies indicate that gay men
report an elevated drive for thinness and drive for muscularity, as well as elevated rates of

22
muscle-enhancing behaviors, anabolic steroid use, disordered eating behaviors, and muscle
dysmorphia symptoms (i.e., pre-occupation with perceived deficits in muscularity) compared to
heterosexual men (Nagata, et. al., 2022).
Effeminism. Effeminism is the dislike of, or hostility towards, women and/or individuals
who present as feminine, especially within the LGBTQ+ community. It is similar to
Femmephobia, which refers to the societal regulation and denigration of femininity across all
gender and sexual identities, including inanimate objects perceived as feminine (Hoskin, et. al.,
2023), but is focused specifically on the LGBTQ+ community. Effeminism encompasses the
following three marginalized groups:
• Feminine Gay Men
o Feminine gay men are targets of essentialist beliefs that cast them as less natural
and more entitative than masculine gay men; this pattern of low-naturalness/high
entitativity beliefs fuels increased sexual prejudice toward, and discomfort with,
feminine gay men (Kiebel, et al., 2020).
• Lipstick Lesbians
o Femme lesbians in particular struggle with invisibility, which contributes to
experiences of femmephobia within and outside of LGBTQ+ communities; the
invisibility of femme lesbians and their presumed heterosexuality is deeply linked
to their femininity, such that this assumption does not map equally onto butch or
masculine lesbians (Hoskins, 2020).
• Transgender Women
o Transgender women face a higher risk of “verbal, physical and sexual
harassment,” illustrating how this early experience of transmisogyny follows

23
transgender women across their life span; transgender women account for nearly
100% of those accounted for by the Transgender Day of Remembrance (Hoskins,
2020).
Homonormativity
Homonormativity is unfortunately prevalent in the LGBTQ+ community. It is described
as a politics that does not contest dominant heteronormative assumptions and institutions, but
upholds and sustains them, while promising the possibility of a demobilized gay constituency
and a privatized, depoliticized gay culture anchored in domesticity and consumption (Browne, et.
al., 2021). Homonormative politics and forms of social acceptance create new ‘others’ who are
stigmatized because they do not fit into new gay normalizations (Browne, et. al., 2021).
Asianization
Asianization is one of the main tenets of AsianCrit. White Supremacy and pervasive
nativistic racism in the US result in Asian Americans being racialized as perpetual foreigners,
threatening yellow perils, model and deviant minorities, and sexually deviant emasculated men
and hypersexualized women (Iftikar & Museus, 2018). These constructions serve as vehicles
through which White supremacy informs laws, policies, programs, and perspectives that
dehumanize and exclude Asian Americans (Iftikar & Museus, 2018).
Experiential Knowledge
CRT recognizes that the experiential knowledge of POC is legitimate, appropriate, and
critical to understanding, analyzing, and teaching about racial subordination (Solorzano &
Yosso, 2002). This tenet centers Asian American experiences to offer an alternative
epistemology that is represented through stories and can inform theories and praxis in
meaningful ways (Iftikar & Museus, 2018). Relatedly, the tenet recognizes that salience of

24
imperial scholarship, or the ways that these alternative epistemologies and stories are
marginalized in academic spheres, and advocates against imperialism in scholarly arenas and for
centering the voices of Asian Americans in education discourse (Iftikar & Museus, 2018).
Social Justice
CRT is committed to social justice and offers a liberatory or transformative response to
racial, gender, and class oppression (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002). Commitment to social justice
highlights the notion that AsianCrit is dedicated to advocating for the end of all forms of
oppression and exploitation (Iftikar & Museus, 2018). That is, AsianCrit aims to eradicate
racism, sexism, heterosexism, capitalist exploitation, and other systemic forms of
dehumanization and domination (Iftikar & Museus, 2018). All critical theories strive to eliminate
racial oppression as part of its broader goal of ending all forms of oppression.
Figure 2
Conceptual Framework
Note. QuAsian Theory (with tenets).

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Review of Research
This review of research relies on Queer Media Theory (QMT), which calls for the
normalization of homosexuality through positive representation in the media. QMT is rooted in
two theories: Queer Theory and Cultivation Theory. Critiquing the normative status of
heteronormativity and demonstrating the impossibility of any ‘natural’ sexuality, Queer Theory
is widely regarded as a resolutely anti-normative mode of politics because it interrogates and
seeks to transform social norms and relations to power (Rumens, et. al., 2019). Cultivation
Theory assumes that the repeated and extensive use of mass media will entice audiences to
absorb the broadcast information into their worldview, successively homogenizing viewers into a
singular mainstream (Stein, et. al., 2021). Exposure to positive representation can promote
Cognitive Empathy, which refers to the ability to understand others, to put ourselves in their
place, get their perspective, or adopt the viewpoint of others: perspective-taking (Madzarevic &
Soto-Sanfiel, 2018).
For example, in May of 2012, Joe Biden shocked the American public by expressing his
acceptance of same-sex marriage on national television. As the sitting Vice President of the
United States, Biden became the highest-ranking public official to openly support same-sex
marriage at the time, attributing an increase in support for gay equality to the situation comedy
Will & Grace (Bond & Compton, 2015). Biden noted that the show’s focus on the everyday lives
of gay men likely did more to educate people about gay individuals than anything else in society
(Bond & Compton, 2015).

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Figure 3
Queer Media Theory
Note: The goal of QMT is to promote Cognitive Empathy in the American public towards
the LGBTQ+ community.
Following this theory, the review presents the representation of GAM in traditional,
social, and news medias. The literature is organized by the research questions. Within this
section, the research first defines the LGBTQ+ and Asian American communities. Next, it
connects GAM and their representation in the media. Finally, it discusses the challenges and
recommendations for GAM and their lived experiences with media.
LGBTQ+ Community
On the evening of June 27, 1969, New York police raided the Stonewall Inn, a bar in
Greenwich Village that catered to homosexuals. This was not unusual; police raids of
homosexual bars were common in American cities in the 1960s. This time, however, bar patrons
(including transgender rights activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera) fought back instead

27
of passively enduring humiliating treatment; their response initiated a riot that lasted into the
night (Armstrong & Crage, 2006). The Stonewall Riot is considered by many to be the birth of
the modern gay liberation movement in America.
The LGBTQ+ community consists of individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender. After showing perceptible increases in 2020 and 2021, U.S. adults’
identification as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or something other than heterosexual held
steady in 2022, at 7.2% (Jones, 2023). The Human Rights Campaign (HRC)—the nation’s
largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization—sounded the alarm today as the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) released its annual crime report for 2022 showing that anti-LGBTQ+ hate
crimes were up sharply from the prior year, with a 13.8% increase in reports based on sexual
orientation and a shocking 32.9% jump in reported hate crimes based on gender identity
(Luneau, 2023).
The full acronym for the community is LGBTQQIP2SAA. It is important to recognize all
members of the community by how they identify. The groups are listed below as defined by the
glossary of terms on the It Gets Better Project (n.d.) website:
Lesbian
A woman (or non-male) who is attracted to other women (or non-males). Some prefer to
identify as gay women, and some lesbians also identify as non-binary.
Gay
Someone who is attracted to those of their same gender. This is often used as an umbrella
term, but is used more specifically to describe men who are attracted to men.

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Bisexual
Someone who is attracted to those of their same gender as well as to those of a different
gender (for example, a woman who is attracted to both women and men).
Transgender
Someone whose gender identity differs from the one that was assigned to them at birth.
Queer
In a very basic sense, anyone who is not heterosexual and/or cisgender. In the past, queer
was a negative or pejorative term for people who are gay, and thus it is sometimes disliked. But
the term is increasingly being used to describe all identities and politics that go against normative
beliefs.
Questioning
A time in many people’s lives when they question or experiment with their gender
expression, gender identity, and/or sexual orientation.
Intersex
Someone who, due to a variety of factors, has reproductive or sexual anatomy that do not
seem to fit the typical definitions for the female or male sex. Some people who are intersex may
identify with the gender assigned to them at birth, while many others do not.
Pansexual
Someone who is attracted to people of any or all genders.
Two-Spirit
A modern umbrella term used within Indigenous communities of North America that
bridges Indigenous and Western understandings of gender and sexuality.

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Asexual
Someone who experiences little or no sexual attraction, or who experiences attraction but
doesn’t feel the need to act out that attraction sexually.
Ally
Someone who supports equal civil rights, gender equality, and LGBTQ+ social
movements; advocates on behalf of others; and challenges fear and discrimination in all its
forms.
Asian American Community
On June 19, 1982, Vincent Chin, a 27-year-old Chinese American engineer, had gone to a
bar in Detroit with friends to celebrate his upcoming wedding. At the bar, he got into an
argument with Ronald Ebens and his stepson, Michael Nitz. Upon leaving the bar, Ebens and
Nitz chased Chin to a nearby parking lot and beat him to death with a baseball bat. According to
one witness, Ebens said “that it was because of people like [Chin] that he and his fellow
employees were losing their jobs” (Chang, 1993). Ebens apparently mistook Chin for Japanese.
The two men pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were each given three years’ probation and
fines of $3,780; they did not serve a single day in jail (Chang, 1993).
In the U.S., Asians are the fastest-growing racial and ethnic group. According to the 2020
census, more than 24 million Americans in the U.S. trace their roots to more than 20 countries in
East and Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent (Ruiz, et. al., 2023). Asian Americans see
more cultural differences than commonalities across the group; when asked to choose between
two statements—that Asians in the U.S. share a common culture, or that Asians in the U.S. have
many different cultures—nearly all (90%) said U.S. Asians have many different cultures and just
9% said Asians living in the U.S. share a common culture (Ruiz, et. al., 2023).

30
Crimes targeting Asian Americans have risen dramatically since the beginning of the
coronavirus pandemic. An analysis released by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism
at California State University, San Bernadino, examined hate crimes in 16 of America’s largest
cities and revealed that while such crimes in 2020 decreased overall by seven percent, those
targeting Asian people rose by nearly 150 percent (Yam, 2021). Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition that
tracks incidents of violence and harassment against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the
U.S., reported 11,409 unique hate acts were reported to the organization that occurred from 2020
to 2022 (Stop AAPI Hate, 2023).
Gay Asian Men
Sinakhone Keodara immigrated to the U.S. from Laos in 1986 and now lives in Los
Angeles. One evening while browsing the wildly popular gay dating app Grindr, he came across
a use profile with just one short descriptor: “Not interested in Asians.” After speaking to other
GAM who have also experienced exclusionary language on the app, Keodara decided to bring a
class-action lawsuit against Grindr for what he described as racial discrimination (Truong, 2018).
He wrote in a tweet:
Please spread my call for co-plaintiffs to all your gay Asian men in your life who have
been offended, humiliated, degraded, and dehumanized by Grindr allowing gay White
men to write in their profiles “No Asians,” “Not interested in Asians,” or “I don’t find
Asians attractive.” I’m suing Grindr for being a breeding ground that perpetuates racism
against gay Asian [men] (Truong, 2018).
This incident highlights the lived experiences of GAM in the U.S. GAM are defined as
individuals who identify as a man, are attracted to other men, and are of Asian descent. This
study focuses on GAM currently living in the U.S., a majority White country, to highlight the

31
intersectionality that gay Asian American men experience. There is not much statistical data on
GAM, but according to a 2017 report from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law,
3% of API adults identify as LGBT (Williams Institute, 2017).
Lived Experiences
Many factors, both negative and positive, add to the lived experiences of GAM.
Intersectionality, specifically in terms of racism and homophobia, puts GAM in a unique
situation. Gay API men report feeling stigmatized and discriminated against within the larger gay
community due to stereotyping and prejudice (Operario, et. al, 2008). Furthermore, family
networks are strongly valued among members of API cultures, so gay men risk violating family
and cultural expectations regarding marriage and having children (Operario, et. al, 2008).
Another major factor is negative stereotypes perpetuated by the media, which will also be
discussed below.
Racism in the LGBTQ+ Community. Racism is unfortunately a part of everyday life
for POC within the LGBTQ+ community. Findings from qualitative research suggest that Asian
American LGBTQ+ persons try to seek approval and acceptance within the sexual minority
community but sometimes experience rejection, prejudice, and discrimination by White
LGBTQ+ persons; this unique stressor may be particularly hurtful and harmful to the
psychological health of many Asian American LGBTQ+ persons (Szymanski & Sung, 2010). In
2005, the San Francisco Human Rights Commission found that the San Francisco BadLands, a
once popular bar, violated the civil rights of non-White patrons and employees. Among the
complaints was that nonWhite customers were being either turned away at the door or were
being expunged from the bar; according to complainants, POC were routinely denied
employment and promotional opportunities and entrance into the establishment (Han, 2007).

32
Most obvious incidents were the fact that Black men were required to provide two forms of I.D.
at the door while White men were required to only show one (Han, 2007). Denied access to gay
bars, gay men and women of color often lose the ability to see and socialize with others “like
them” who also turn to these “safe” places for not only their social aspects but also their
affirming aspects (Han, 2009).
Homophobia in the Asian American Community. Regarding stressors related to
sexuality, homophobia is a problem in Asian American communities. In traditional Asian
culture, homosexuality is viewed as deviant behavior that brings shame to one’s family
(Szymanski & Sung, 2013). A son or daughter coming out as LGBTQ+ is incompatible with the
concept of family obligations and duty and may be seen as a failure of the parents and a rejection
of family and culture (Szymanski & Sung, 2013). The Asian Pride Project, founded by social
worker and advocate Aries Lao, is a way to create a safe and open forum for the families of
LGBTQ+ Asian Pacific Americans to share in one another’s stories - and to hear that they are
not alone and that the personal and cultural issues they are confronting are not unique (Yang,
2014).
Negative Stereotypes. Negative stereotypes, perpetuated by the media, are also a
significant part of GAM’s lived experiences. In his article “Using Chopsticks to Eat Steak”, Kent
Chuang (1999) writes about how he tried desperately to avoid anything related to his Chinese
heritage and his attempts to transform his "shamefully slim Oriental frame into a more desirable
Western body". Furthermore, because GAM are perceived in the gay community to be more
feminine than GWM, GAM drag queens are better able to convince audience members that they
have achieved “realness”; in this way, they are able to trade the more-stigmatized status of race

33
with a less-stigmatized status of queen using precisely the characteristics that lead to their
stigmatization in the first place (Han, 2009).
These negative stereotypes lead to the emasculation of GAM. A manifestation of these
stereotypes comes in the form of “rice queens,” who desire GAM purely for the purpose of
eroticizing and exoticizing them, and are often attracted to GAM based on idealized notions of a
passive, docile, and submissive lover, eager to please any gay White man (GWM); when “rice
queens” do not receive the treatment that they come to require from GAM, they simply move
onto another (Ayers, 1999). Furthermore, so ingrained is the feminine gender role among GAM,
that dating another Asian man would be akin to lesbianism, where two women enter into a
mutually romantic and sexual relationship (Han, 2009).
Media Representation
What is media representation? The phrase “media representation” refers to the ways that
members of various social groups are differentially presented in mass media offerings, which in
turn influence the ways audience members of those media offerings perceive and respond to
members of the groups represented (Hart, 2000). Because mainstream media offerings are
typically presented to audience members as “transparent mediators of reality” in the social world,
they regularly contribute to the social “knowledge” media users cultivate about the “real world”
and the wide range of individuals who live there (Gross, 1994).
According to a report from USC’s Marshall School of Business entitled How Much
Media? Report on American Consumers (USC, 2013), for the better part of three decades, the
supply of digital media presented to individuals and households in America has been growing at
compounded rates ranging between 9% and 30% per annum for the majority of the media
Americans watch, listen to or communicate with—television, radio, cellphones, computers,

34
computer gaming. For selected user populations, video consumption on mobile devices
(YouTube, Netflix), smartphone texting, or social networking on Facebook have much higher
rates of growth in usage time, number of users, and tasking whereby individuals receive and
process multiple media flows almost simultaneously.
LGBTQ+ Community
In 2021, the LGBTQ+ community celebrated the 25th anniversary of the release of The
Birdcage. The Mike Nichols' film, a remake of the 1978 French film La Cage aux Folles, about a
gay couple hosting an ill-fated dinner party, remains remarkably relevant in its comedic
sensibilities (Maskell, 2021). On one level, The Birdcage was a universal, very mainstream
comedy, that earned close to $200 million at the international box office; but within the context
of mid-1990s Hollywood, the film was also a radical outlier that held particular significance for
the LGBTQ+ community (Maskell, 2021).
After The Birdcage was released, there was a boom in LGBTQ+ representation in movies
and television. However, media images such as Will & Grace (Kohan & Mutchnick, 1998), My
Best Friend’s Wedding (Hogan, 1997), In & Out (Oz, 1997) , Queer as Folk (Cowen & Lipman,
2000), Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (Collins & Williams, 2003), etc… promote a monolithic
image of the gay community as being overwhelmingly upper-middle class —if not simply rich—
and White (Han, 2007). For example, in the movie, Boat Trip (Nathan, 2002), about the comic
misadventures of two straight men booked on a gay cruise by a gay travel agent hell-bent on
preserving the honor of his lover, all the gay men, with one exception, are White (Han, 2007).
According to the GLAAD Media Institute’s Where We Are on TV report (2022-2023),
659 series regulars are set to appear on scripted primetime broadcast series for the 2022-2023
season; of those, 70 (10.6 percent) are LGBTQ+. This is a decrease of 22 characters and 1.3

35
percent from last year. There are an additional 31 LGBTQ+ recurring characters counted,
bringing the total to 101 LGBTQ+ characters on broadcast, an overall decrease of 40 characters
from the previous year. GLAAD also released the milestone tenth edition of its annual Studio
Responsibility Index (SRI), which tracks the quantity, quality, and diversity of LGBTQ+
characters in theatrical film slates from major studios. Over the last decade, the percentage of
LGBTQ-inclusive films grew by 50 percent, or 1.5 times, in large part due to GLAAD’s annual
study, alongside work with studio leadership and creatives. The runaway success of the new
queer rom-com Red, White, & Royal Blue (Lopez, 2023) proves that LGBTQ stories are a win
for the bottom line when paired with meaningful marketing and publicity budgets—the title was
the number one movie worldwide on Prime Video in its opening weekend and sparked a “huge
surge of new Prime membership” sign-ups per reporting by Amazon.
Taking inspiration from the Bechdel Test, which examines the way women characters are
portrayed and situated within a narrative, GLAAD developed its own set of criteria to analyze
how LGBTQ+ characters are included in a film. The Vito Russo Test gets its name from
celebrated film historian and GLAAD co-founder Vito Russo, whose book The Celluloid Closet
(1981) remains the bedrock for analysis of early LGBTQ+ portrayals in Hollywood film
(GLAAD, 2023). These criteria can help filmmakers create more multidimensional characters
while providing a barometer for LGBTQ+ film representation; in 2022, 77% (or 22%) of 350
total films passed the Vito Russo Test (GLAAD, 2023).

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Figure 4
Percentage of LGBTQ+-inclusive films that passed the Vito Russo Test, By Year Chart
Note. Source: 2023 Studio Responsibility Index, GLAAD Media Institute
Asian American Community
On September 14, 1994, the first sitcom about an Asian American family featuring an
Asian American cast premiered, with much fanfare, on ABC network television. All-American
Girl was developed as a vehicle to showcase the talents of Margaret Cho, who was discovered on
tour; executive producers Gail Berman and Gary Jacobs envisioned her following in the
footsteps of female comics-turned-sitcom stars such as Lucille Ball, Gracie Allen, and Roseanne
Barr (Park, 2014). Ratings fell when the show lost its Home Improvement lead-in, and Asian

37
American activist groups began protesting the show for its ostensibly negative ethnic stereotypes
(Park, 2014). The series was canceled after one season.
Many Asian racial-ethnic stereotypes are perpetuated through television, with one of the
most prominent Asian stereotypes being the “model minority”. This stereotype aims to explain
the success of Asians while also situating Asians from other non-White racial ethnic groups,
defining Asians as achieving the “American dream” without receiving government support,
while accomplishing financial success, tech-savviness, and academic achievements (Stamps,
2019). Scholars have recognized that this stereotype is problematic as it pits non-White racialethnic groups against one another, erases the diversity of Asians in the U.S., and potentially
distracts and delegitimizes the work of Asians dismantling racial discrimination and social
injustice (Stamps, 2019).
Furthermore, in both film and television, Asian women are portrayed as feeble and
submissive, especially to a White male partner. A few characters who succumbed to this trope
included Knives Chau from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Wright, 2010), Sonmi in Cloud Atlas
(Tykwer, Wachowski & Wachowski, 2012), Mantis in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Gunn,
2017), and Suzume from The Darkest Minds (Yuh Nelson, 2018) (Besana, et. al., 2019). For
example, only with the aid of Hae Joo Chang, a White actor playing an ethnically Korean
character, did Sonmi break out of her shell, build confidence, and become a charismatic leader
who proclaimed many anti-slavery speeches such as, “You can maintain power over people as
long as you give them something. Rob a man of everything and that man will no longer be in
your power” (Besana, et. al., 2019).
Moreover, Asian men are portrayed on television as effeminate, isolated, and asexual.
Take, for example, the character of Jin, the Asian male cast member of the ABC television series

38
Lost (Lieber, Abrams & Lindelof, 2004). Jin is portrayed early on as a controlling and quiet
figure, and as the series progresses, it is subsequently revealed (not coincidentally), that Jin is
impotent (Park, 2013). Furthermore, the popular Hollywood comedy The Hangover Part II
(Phillips, 2011) reinforces this emasculated image of the Asian male with the character of Mr.
Chow, who, as one critic notes, is the butt of the most cliché of penis jokes: “His naked manhandle is mistaken for a Shiitake mushroom” (Park, 2013).
Actors in Hollywood action films fare no better. Asian action heroes, who are highly
sexual in Asian films, are de-sexed for the American market. A stark example is in the movie
Romeo Must Die (Bartkowiak, 2000), where Jet Li spends the entirety of the movie ‘negotiating’
a romantic affair with Aaliyah; however, the two are never shown engaging in any real act of
romance (Han, 2008). The omission of any ‘real’ romantic interlude between Li and Aaliyah is
in stark contradiction to the normal action hero narrative when the hero virtually always ends up
with the leading female character (Han, 2008).
UCLA’s Entertainment and Media Research Initiative (EMRI) puts out bi-annual reports
that primarily examine the relationship between racial, ethnic, and gender diversity and the
bottom line in the entertainment industry. The first part of the report focuses on film and was
released in March 2023. A breakdown of theatrical and streaming film leads by specific racial
group shows that White persons, about 56.9 percent of the U.S. population in 2022, were
overrepresented (78.4 percent theatrical, 66.7 percent streaming); by contrast, Asian persons (2.3
percent theatrical and 2.0 percent streaming) were underrepresented among theatrical film leads
in 2022. The following figures are breakdowns of overall cast diversity:

39
Figure 5
Share of All Theatrical and Streaming Films Roles, by Race, 2022
Share of All Theatrical Film Roles, 2022 Share of All Streaming Film Roles, 2022
Note. Source: The Hollywood Diversity Report 2023, Part 1: Film, UCLA Entertainment
and Media Research Initiative
The second part of the report focuses on television and was released in November 2023.
The racial and ethnic breakdown of broadcast scripted leads for the 2021-22 television season
reveals that Black persons again constituted the largest single share among leads of color (18.4
percent), followed by Multiracial (7.1 percent), Latinx (6.1 percent), and Asian (1.0 percent)
persons. Native and Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) persons were absent altogether
among broadcast scripted leads. Black persons constituted the only minority group
overrepresented among digital scripted leads for the 2021-22 television season (16.1 percent). By
contrast, Latinx (4.3 percent), Asian (3.6 percent), and Multiracial (8.9 percent) persons were
underrepresented among digital scripted leads, while Native (1.6 percent) and MENA (1.3
percent) persons were proportionally represented among these roles. The following figures are
breakdowns of overall cast diversity:

40
Figure 6
Share of All Theatrical and Streaming Films Roles, by Race, 2022
Broadcast Scripted Shows, 2021-22 Digital Scripted Shows, 2021-22
Note. Source: The Hollywood Diversity Report 2023, Part 2: Television, UCLA
Entertainment and Media Research Initiative
Last but not least, following the popularity of Kevin Kwan’s 2013 novel, the Warner
Brothers film Crazy Rich Asians (Chu) arrived in 2018 with massive fanfare. The romantic
comedy starred Constance Wu as an ordinary Chinese American woman who gets swept off her
feet by her exorbitantly wealthy boyfriend and must contend with his prying and protective
Singaporean family. Not only was the movie financially successful, earning over $260 million at
the global box office, but Asian Americans supported it in droves—celebrating its stars with
exuberant fandom, participating in repeat viewings at the movie theater, and contributing to a
deafening social media buzz (Lopez, 2021). Crazy Rich Asians provided a moment in which
Asian Americans fought to exceed and resist the limits of various communication platforms in
order to more fully express their frustrations with the current media landscape (Lopez, 2021).

41
Gay Asian Men and the Media
GAM are relatively non-existent throughout mainstream media. While scholarship has
discussed how intersectional power relations appear in the media, few studies have attended to
the LGBTQ+ Asian American community regarding how the representation-audience
relationship translates to experiences of marginalization (Kuo, et. al., 2022). Due to limited
research on the effects of media culture with this specific racialized, gendered, and sexualized
subject, studying the representation of LGBTQ+ Asian Americans and its reception serves as a
way to further understand identity development, risk factors, and protective mechanisms (Kuo,
et. al., 2022).
There is little data specifically on LGBTQ+ Asian Americans, but GLAAD conducts
research on POC in films. Of the 95 characters that had over ten minutes of screentime, 45 (47
percent) were White, 18 (19 percent) were Black, four (four percent) were Latinx, 13 (14
percent) were API, 12 (13 percent) were Multiracial, two (two percent) were MENA (Middle
Eastern and North African), and no characters with over ten minutes of screen time were
Indigenous. The overall percentage of LGBTQ+ characters of color rose to 40 percent (117 of
292) and several of those characters appeared in leading roles. Both friendship and romance
between AAPI gay men were at the heart of Fire Island (Ahn, 2022); Anything’s Possible
(Porter, 2022) centered on a Black trans girl finding love; Strange World (Hall & Nguyen, 2022)
saw a young Black boy on an adventure with his family and his relationship with a Latine boy
(GLAAD, 2023).
Traditional Media
The first GAM in mainstream media to gain some notoriety was the character of “Lloyd”
(played by Asian American actor Rex Lee) on the HBO series Entourage (Ellin, Wahlberg &

42
Levinson, 2004). Lloyd personifies a subservient and effeminate character (he is also gay) and
provides a (not-so-subtle) link between emasculation and the image of the Asian male (Park,
2013). In Out Magazine’s June 2005 issue, Lee was included in the annual ‘hot’ issue that
featured ‘people, places, and things that fire [gays] up;’ however, Lee’s profile was noticeably
lacking in mentioning any quality about Lee that might make him ‘hot’ (Han, 2008). Instead, the
article appeared 110 pages before the ‘hot list’ and went to painful lengths to point out that Lee
had problems with his body image (Han, 2008). Lee’s feminine characteristics are highlighted
with the article quoting him as saying, ‘I’ve always been out. I mean, you have to be blind not to
be able to figure it out’ while also pointing out that his first taste of national attention came as a
result of his portrayal of actress Winona Ryder (Davis, 2005).
GAM portrayals in the mainstream media seem to follow the "gay Asian man as femme"
model. In the short-lived television sitcom, Some of My Best Friends (Cherry & Vitale, 2001),
the role of "comedic sidekick" was played by Alec Mapa, a Filipino American actor most notable
for playing Song Liling in the traveling production of M. Butterfly (Han, 2006). On the show,
Mapa's overly feminine Vern Limoso was a stark contrast to the masculine Warren Fairbanks,
played by Jason Bateman (Han, 2006).
Furthermore, in the HBO documentary, Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She (Thomas,
2005), narrator Gore Vidal introduces us to Qui, a Thai katoey, or ladyboy, who posted her
picture online looking for a partner. The ad, placed when Qui was still a teenager, was answered
by Mark, a 40-something White man who “left wife, family, and job behind to follow an
obsession” (Han, 2008). While a ‘straight’ White man and a Thai katoey are hardly
representative of the gay ‘community’, the narrative presented in the documentary is
representative of how ‘Western’ media present GAM (Han, 2008).

43
According to the GLAAD Where We Are on TV report (2022-2023), of the 101 LGBTQ+
characters counted in primetime scripted broadcast programming, six (six percent) of them are
API characters. This is a decrease of four characters and one percentage point. These characters
include the new bi+ doctor Mika Yasuda who joined the team on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy
(Rhimes, 2005), nonbinary dog walker Nico on the new ABC crime show Will Trent (Heldens &
Thomsen, 2023), returning couple Ryan and Sebastian on The CW’s Kung Fu (Kim & Berlanti,
2021), and more. Cable also saw a decrease in API LGBTQ+ characters this year. Of the 139
LGBTQ+ characters counted on primetime scripted cable, eight (six percent) are API. That is a
decrease of one character and one percentage point. Highlights on cable include lesbian couple
Alice and Sumi on Freeform’s Good Trouble (Johnson, Bredeweg & Paige, 2019), trans grocery
store employee Mindy on Freeform’s Single Drunk Female (Finch, 2022), and Micah on
Showtime’s The L Word: Generation Q (Chaiken, Greenberg & Abbot, 2019).

44
Figure 7
Representation of Asian-Pacific Islander Characters, 2022-23
Note. Source: Where We Are on TV 2022-2023 report, GLAAD Media Institute
Social Media
On March 13, 2020, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency concerning
the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 16, he used the term “Chinese virus” for the first time in
public, in a tweet about his intent to support industries affected by the pandemic; two days later,
he used the term again in four separate tweets, referencing the “onslaught on the Chinese virus”
and stating it was “not your fault!” to people who were out of work (Cao, et.al., 2023). This was
followed by a spike in the number of anti-Asian COVID-19 tweets on March 19, and an
extremely large spike in incidents of hate, violence, and harassment against Asian Americans
and Pacific Islanders in the United States on March 20 (Cao, et. al., 2023).

45
There is no data on online bullying specifically, but the Trevor Project’s National Survey
on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health (2021) found that the majority of LGBTQ+ youth (52%) who
were enrolled in middle or high school reported being bullied either in person or electronically in
the past year. One in three (33%) reported being bullied in person (e.g., at school, on the way to
school, at a party, or at work), while 42% were bullied electronically (e.g., online or via text
message). Bullying was reported more often by LGBTQ+ middle school (65%) compared to high
school students (49%). Transgender and nonbinary students (61%) reported higher rates of
bullying compared to cisgender LGBQ students (45%). Those who were Native/Indigenous
(70%), White (54%), and Multiracial (54%) reported higher rates of being bullied compared to
those who were Latinx (47%), Asian American/Pacific Islander (41%), or Black (41%).
Figure 8
Bullying and Suicide Risk among LGBTQ Youth
Note. Source: The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental
Health

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Furthermore, recent discussions of gay men’s tendency to obfuscate appearance-and
identity-based stigma on gay social networking apps under the phraseology of “sexual
preferences” lend support to the idea that peer pressure and appearance stigma are especially
salient among gay and bisexual men, as well as offers a compelling example of how cultural
norms and sexual objectification intersect (Filice, et. al., 2019). Several popular articles depict an
epidemic of discriminatory behavior on Grindr and other gay social networking apps targeted
against persons with larger bodies, POC, trans and gender-nonconforming persons, persons with
disabilities, persons who are HIV-positive, and other marginalized embodiments and identities;
the phrase “no fats, no fems, no Asians,” a common refrain of numerous permutations seen in
users’ profile descriptions that delineates the features one deems automatically disqualifying
from interaction, is now used as shorthand to refer to this phenomenon (Filice, et. al., 2019).
Moreover, emerging digital scholarship has noted that gay API men frequently
experience rejection in sexual encounters in cyberculture on the basis of their race or ethnicity
(Cheng, 2011). The cyber dating marketplace has impacted queer male relationships and
identities, conflating identity groups and quantifying certain bodies and identifications (Dinshaw
et al., 2007). How subaltern groups may marginalize other subaltern groups, such as the
marginalization of gay API men from other heterosexual Asians as well as from gay White men,
has largely gone unnoticed in scholarship (Han, 2008). By experiencing rejection even within
queer spaces, GAM may feel shame and self-hate with respect to their racial and ethnic
backgrounds (Cheng, 2011). This experience of social exclusion is heightened for APIs who are
transgender or gender nonconforming and who may have been met with silence, both within API
spaces and within queer ones (Leong, 2014).

47
News Media
The Asian American community was shocked when the April 2004 issue of Details
Magazine featured a spread titled “Gay or Asian?” The piece compares the physical features and
fashion of an Asian male to outrageous gay and Asian stereotypes that Details claimed to be
nothing more than satire (Sakai, 2004). It is important to note that this long-running series
challenged readers to decipher if the man pictured was many things or gay, such as "gay" or
"cowboy, deposed monarch, boy-band member, etc.;” the idea, of course, behind this series was
that some "types" of people, such as professional wrestlers, truckers, celebrity handymen, and
socialite's husbands are often mistaken for "gay" or that gay men often take on these "identities"
without actually being a member of that category (Han, 2006). However, Asians were the only
group racially marked to be easily mistaken for gay, a feminine role within the mainstream press
(Han, 2006).

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Figure 9
Gay or Asian? by Whitney McNally
Note. Source: Details Magazine, April 2004 issue.
All forms of media produce and reproduce inequality to varying degrees and by extension
are sites of contested identity formation. Yet while narratives from novels and images on screens
are often perceived to be ‘fictional,’ there continues to be a strong belief that narratives found in
newspapers and magazines are ‘factual,’ and reflective of an objective ‘reality’ (Han, 2008).
While the ‘official’ goal of journalism is to provide an objective truth, in reality, journalism is a
site of storytelling whereby a subjective version of reality is actually presented (Han, 2008).

49
Looking at gay media, it is evidently clear that the strategy deployed by gay publications
to maintain White male privilege is one of exclusion. Asian men, and other men of color, rarely
appear as subjects of a story and are rarely represented as contributors to the debates; as such,
gay print media often speaks only to White men (Han, 2008). Advertising that ‘targets’ the gay
community is often no better. Ads that feature White men seem to be marketing to them, while
ads that feature Asian men seem to be marketing them as commodities; the invisibility of Asian
men in gay media is most evident between the pages of The Advocate, the largest gay and lesbian
news magazine in the USA (Han, 2008).
For example, in 2005, before the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, the Servicemembers
Legal Defense Network (SLDN) placed an ad in national gay publications (such as The
Advocate) as part of their “Let Them Serve” ad campaign. In one ad, the caption read “Let Him
Serve,” while a GAM provides comfort to an obviously distressed gay White man; the gay White
man is denied his opportunity to bravely serve his country while the Asian man’s role is to
simply provide emotional support for his White partner (Han, 2009). This ad is particularly
striking, given that all other ads from the SLDN that featured more than one person had a tagline
that said, “Let Them Serve” (Han, 2009).
Also in the year 2005, the February issue of OUT Magazine ran a column entitled ‘How
to Gab in Gaysian,’ which was introduced in this way: Sometimes members of a group pepper
their conversations with sexual euphemisms, saucy slang terms, and just flat-out un-PC parlance.
Since there isn’t an official English-Gaysian dictionary, OUT offers you a small menu of words
you might want to know in order to verbal-vogue it like a queer Asian (Lee, 2005). The column
relegates GAM to the margins of the gay community in several ways. First, by providing an
English/Gaysian ‘dictionary,’ the column presupposes that the reader is White; in addition, it is

50
the gay White reader who is provided with a ‘service’ to decipher the language of a ‘foreign’
group (Han, 2008).
Recommendations
Unlike the effects of negative representation, there is little to no research on the effect of
positive representations on GAM. However, research informs that audiences tend to positively
evaluate homosexuals when positive media representations of them are available. For instance,
Harrington (2003) states that a positive representation of a lesbian, who accepts her identity and
is satisfied with life, elicits a positive attitude in the audience towards homosexuality. BondsRaacke et al. (2007) report that memories of a positive representation of a homosexual person
produce more positive attitudes toward homosexuals. Therefore, positive representation in the
media is important to the overall acceptance of GAM.
Traditional Media
In 2022, just in time for pride month, the first ever mainstream Asian American queer
romantic comedy was released. Fire Island (Ahn, 2022) may well be the first movie to explore
anti-Asian bias within gay circles - as well as its inverse, the fetishizing “rice queens” (Kang,
2022). So prevalent is the sexual racism that “it would be a miracle if anyone Asian American
person did not experience discrimination in the queer community,” Bowen Yang, Saturday Night
Live breakout and star of the film, said (Kang, 2022). Fire Island marks a new era not only for
Asian American film but also for mainstream gay comedies (Dry, 2022).
GLAAD’s Studio Responsibility Index (2023) reports that Hollywood has accelerated
acceptance for LGBTQ+ people worldwide with stories including Blockers (Cannon, 2018),
Love, Simon (Berlanti, 2018), Booksmart (Wilde, 2019), Strange World (Hall & Nguyen, 2022),
Bros (Stoller, 2022), Fire Island (referenced above), Anything’s Possible (Porter, 2022), and

51
many more. For the first time, three studios have earned a grade of “Good” based on the quality,
quantity, and diversity of the distributor’s LGBTQ+-inclusive films: A24, NBCUniversal, and
The Walt Disney Company (no studio has ever received an “Excellent” rating). In particular, The
Walt Disney Company, the only distributor tracked that owns multiple streaming services, saw
significant improvements against previous tracking because of streaming originals - including
the GLAAD Media Award-winning Fire Island (Ahn, 2022), Crush (Cohen, 2022), Zombies 3
(Hoen, 2022), and more.
According to the GLAAD Where We Are on TV report (2022), streaming was the only
platform to count an increase in LGBTQ+ API characters from the previous study. Of the 356
LGBTQ+ characters counted across the eight streaming services tracked, 41 (12 percent) were
API characters. That is an increase of four characters and two percentage points from last year’s
totals. Some highlights include Nicholas, the protagonist’s confidant and assistant on Apple
TV+’s Loot (Yang & Hubbard, 2022), queer student Mouse and her two moms on Pretty Little
Liars: Original Sin (Calhoon Bring & Aguirre-Sacasa, 2022) on HBO Max, lead Sabi and their
employer/friend Bessy on Sort Of (Baig & Filippo, 2021), the ensemble cast of the Indian Netflix
series Class (Ahluwalia, 2023), and gay character Ozzie on That 90s Show (Carsey & Goldstein,
2023).
Social Media
In 2021, social media influencer Bretman Rock, who was born in the Philippines, had a
big year. He became a face of Nike’s Pride-themed Be True campaign, he was named MTV’s
2021 Breakthrough Social Star, he was named People’s Choice Awards Beauty Influencer of the
Year, and one of Time’s 30 Most Influential Teens (Escalante, 2021). He also collected brand
collaborations and lucrative sponsorship deals and grew his fan base—which stood at 17 million

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followers on Instagram, 11.9 million on TikTok, and 8.6 million on YouTube (Escalante, 2021).
“One day I decided I was a star, and I would walk to school with my head held high. I would
walk to school in my stilettos and high heels, listening to ‘Lucky’ by Britney Spears,” Rock
recalls, “and I would just think to myself, everyone is going to know me one day” (Escalante,
2021).
Historically, Asian Americans are a minority group systematically ignored by the
American media, and social media is no exception. However, with the emergence of new social
media outlets like YouTube, scholars in media studies suggest that Asian Americans took
advantage of the democratized nature (in which anyone can upload a video and potentially reach
an audience) and used it to bypass the systemic racism of old media (McCullough, et. al., 2021).
Therefore, LGBTQ+ Asian Americans have been able to create a social media presence via
YouTube. For example, the platform has supported the development of Escape the Night, a web
series written by Joey Graceffa, one of the most popular gay creators on the platform; the series,
released in 2016 and inspired by Graceffa’s love of the 1985 film Clue, features LGBTQ+ video
creators from diverse racial-ethnic backgrounds including Asian and trans makeup creator Nikita
Dragun (Rodriguez, 2023). Another example is the 2018 #ProudToCreate video, which includes
a thumbnail of proud LGBTQ+ marchers and describes how YouTube is celebrating voices that
shape the past, present, and future; the montage leverages stories and images from LGBTQ+
people working through YouTube as well as creatives outside YouTube and features Asian
singer-songwriter and lesbian, Hayley Kiyoko (Rodriguez, 2023).
Furthermore, Korean pop culture (K-pop) has made an impact on LGBTQ+ Asian
Americans across the Pacific Ocean. K-pop, which includes music and television dramas, has
steadily been rising in popularity since the 1990s internationally and in the United States through

53
online platforms, reaching record-breaking levels of recognition (Kuo, et. al., 2022). The recent
rise of K-pop media and fan culture on the global scale invites academic attention to study and
document this phenomenon and its effects on the people who access it, such as LGBTQ+ Asian
Americans, especially as K-pop offers a distinctive meaning-making platform for Asian, Asian
American, and LGBTQ+ identities (Kuo, et. al., 2022).
Research on male K-pop idols has revealed that they perform gender by challenging
Western gender binaries of homosexuality/heterosexuality, masculine/feminine bodies, and
masculinized gaze directed on the feminized object (Oh, 2015). Effeminate appearances or
behaviors of male K-pop idols are accepted as masculine, a contrast to how this androgyny
would be perceived as homosexuality in the West (Oh & Oh, 2017). Male K-pop stars often have
soft and pretty faces, wear makeup, wear flowy and sparkly outfits or even women’s clothing,
maintain a slender body structure, and are more physically affectionate with other men (Kuo, et.
al., 2022).
Moreover, in the summer of 2018, the popular dating and hook-up app Grindr launched a
new campaign aimed at addressing the racism, transphobia, body-shaming, and HIV-stigmatism
often associated with the platform. As the name implies, the Kindr initiative set itself the task of
making the smartphone application a nicer, friendlier, and altogether more welcoming platform
on which to network (Ramos & Mowlabocus, 2021). Two years later, in Pride Month June 2020,
Grindr announced that they would remove their ethnicity filters, in response to calls for solidarity
with the Black Lives Matter movement (Zhou, 2022).
News Media
Unfortunately, there is little to no research on GAM and positive representations in the
news media. On the reporter level, there have been some breakthroughs on local news stations,

54
but there is currently no national GAM news anchor. However, actor/comedian Kal Penn
recently completed his second turn behind the desk of Comedy Central’s satirical news television
show The Daily Show (Morrison, 2023). Penn, who is Indian American, made headlines in 2021
when he came out as gay and revealed that he is engaged to Josh, his partner of 11 years
(Owoseje, 2021).
In response to this lack of representation in the news media, GAM have attempted to be
active in creating their own images that go beyond the stereotypes that seem to be regurgitated in
the popular ‘gay’ press. Sadly, Noodle Magazine, the only such publication produced entirely by
GAM, closed after publishing just six issues between the summer of 2002 and the fall of 2003
(Han, 2008). In its inaugural issue, Noodle Magazine declared:
What you have in your hands is something that we thought was missing in all of our
lives. Sure, we’ve seen Asian and Pacific Islander men in a magazine or two in the past,
but we kind of feel that they weren’t really about us, and they talked more about us than
toward us. Hey, we like the attention as much as anyone, but we don’t think we’ve ever
actually seen who we really are in print before. Not in a token article in a gay magazine,
not as a sidebar in an Asian American magazine, and not as a human-interest story in the
newspaper. We thought it was about time we tell the stories that we want to tell (Noodle
Magazine, 2002).
While it is clear that the producers of Noodle Magazine were aware of the negative
stereotypes about GAM within the gay community, they relied on a strategy of compensation
whereby they attempted to undermine the stereotypes by ‘conforming par excellence to the
hegemonic ideal’ (Chen, 1999). By using images of muscular and masculine GAM that mimic
the images found in magazines such as OUT, the producers of the magazine attempted to present

55
GAM as being similar to the hegemonic norm found within the gay press (Han, 2008).
Unfortunately, there has not been another publication dedicated to GAM since then.
Conclusion
This chapter presented the frameworks and review of research for this study. The
theoretical framework is Intersectionality, specifically focusing on the intersection of racism and
homophobia. Furthermore, the conceptual framework is QuAsian Theory, which combats
negative Asian American stereotypes (such as Model Minority, Emasculation, Exoticization,
etc.) through visibility in the LGBTQ+ community. Moreover, the review of research relied on
Queer Media Theory, which makes the connection between positive representation in the media
and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. In Chapter Three, the methodology used to
complete this study is discussed.

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Chapter Three: Methodology
This study addressed the problem of the emasculation of GAM through negative
stereotypes perpetuated by the media (e.g., being short, skinny, effeminate, submissive, passive,
less sexually attractive, etc.). To gain more insight into this problem, a qualitative research study
was conducted within that specific population to learn more about their lived experiences related
to the media. This chapter introduces the research design, participants, data collection, and data
analysis used in this study.
Research Design
The qualitative research design for this study was a phenomenological approach.
Phenomenology is the study of how people describe things and experience them through their
senses (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). In phenomenological interviewing, the researcher attempts to
uncover the essence of an individual's "lived" experience; such an interview focuses on the deep,
lived meanings that events have for individuals, assuming that these meanings guide actions and
interactions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). There is a long history of negative stereotypes and
invisibility of GAM in the media, and this study captured the personal experiences of the
participants and gave them a voice to have their narratives heard.
Research Questions
The purpose of this study was to explore how representation (or lack of) on traditional
media, social media, and news media affect GAM. Through the participants’ lived experiences,
the study demonstrated what kind of influence the lack of visibility and negative stereotypes in
the media have on the mental and physical health of GAM. Aligned with this purpose, the
following three research questions guided this study to better understand the narratives of GAM
and the media:

57
1. What are the lived experiences of GAM in relation to the media?
2. What are the challenges GAM have with the media?
3. How can the problems GAM have with the media be resolved?
Setting
The interviews were conducted online synchronously (in real-time) through Zoom (Zoom
Video Communications, 2024) for convenience and to address possible concerns about the
ongoing pandemic. Zoom Meetings was used as the platform so the interviews could be recorded
and transcribed. The purpose of recording was to ensure the accuracy of each participant’s
responses and to allow me to stay present in the interview without the distraction of having to
take copious notes. Otter.ai was also used to enhance the accuracy of the transcription (Otter.ai,
2024). I was alone in a private room to conduct the online interviews to ensure participant
responses were kept confidential.
Participants
The section is an overview of the participants of this study. The first section focuses on
the target population and accessible population. Next, the sample of the study and the two types
of sampling methods are explained. Finally, the recruitment procedures for participants are
discussed in detail.
Target and Accessible Population
The goal of this research was to understand the lived experiences GAM have with the
media. Therefore, the target population for this study was GAM who are 18 years old and older
and living in the U.S. The accessible population was GAM who are 18 years old and older and
living in Southern California.

58
Sample
The sample for this study was eight GAM who are 18 years old and older and living in
Southern California and who met the criteria through a self-report (see Demographic Survey in
Appendix D). Through this survey, I ensured that each participant was 18 years old or older, to
keep the study exempt with USC’s Internal Review Board (IRB). Furthermore, all participants
currently live in the Los Angeles area, which is also where I reside and conducted all of this
study’s research.
Sampling Method
To recruit participants for this study, two different types of sampling were used:
purposeful sampling and convenience sampling. Purposeful sampling was used to select the
sample for this study. Purposeful sampling is based on the assumption that the researcher wants
to discover, understand, and gain insight and therefore must select a sample from which the most
can be learned (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Convenience sampling was used to find participants
for this study. Convenience sampling is just what is implied by the term—a sample is selected
based on time, money, location, availability of sites or respondents, and so on (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). Both sampling methods were necessary due to the specificity of the sample
population and the limitations of the study.
Recruitment
Once IRB approval was received from USC, I contacted individuals from various
organizations that focus on the LGBTQ+ and Asian American communities to enlist participants
through an Email Letter (See Appendix A). When potential participants were identified, a
Recruitment Letter (see Appendix B) was sent to those individuals. Once individuals responded,
I then sent them an attachment containing the Informed Consent (See Appendix C), and a link to

59
the Demographic Survey (see Appendix D) asking them to respond within two weeks if they
were interested in participating. Once the survey was completed, I then analyzed the
Demographic Survey data to ensure the sampling criterion was met. I randomly selected eight
individuals who met the criterion. The procedure taken after this recruitment can be found in the
Procedures section.
Data Collection
The data collection for this study involved two procedures: a Demographic Survey (see
Appendix D) conducted via Qualtrics (Qualtrics, 2024), and a Semi-Structured Interview via an
Interview Protocol (see Appendix E) conducted via Zoom. The survey included questions about
the participant’s background. The interviews delved into the lived experiences of the participants
with the media.
Table 1
Data Sources
Research Question Demographic Survey Semi-Structured Interview
What are the lived experiences X X
of GAM in relation to the media?
What are the challenges GAM have X
in addressing problems with the media?
How can the problems GAM have X
with the media be resolved?

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Demographic Survey
A Demographic Survey (see Appendix D) was used to collect data about the participants.
This information was used to not only provide background information but also to allow more
insight into intersecting factors that affect the participant’s lives. The questions focused on
ethnicity (i.e., if they are of Asian origin), sexuality (e.g., gay, bisexual, transgender, etc…), age,
and location. This survey was necessary to ensure that all participants had the necessary lived
experiences to participate in the study.
Interview Protocol
A Semi-Structured Interview via an Interview Protocol (see Appendix E) with specific
interview questions that align with the three research questions of this study (see Research
Questions) was conducted. In this type of interview either all of the questions are more flexibly
worded, or the interview is a mix of more and less structured questions; usually, specific
information is desired from all the respondents, in which case there is a more structured section
to the interview (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). However, most of the interview is guided by a list of
questions or issues to be explored, and neither the exact wording nor the order of the questions is
determined ahead of time; this format allows the researcher to respond to the situation at hand, to
the emerging worldview of the respondent, and to new ideas on the topic (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). Conducting interviews with face-to-face interactions was necessary to build rapport with
the participants, and was conducive to gathering richer narratives from them.
Procedures
Once the eight participants were selected for the study, I emailed each of them to
schedule a semi-structured, 45-minute interview conducted via Zoom (Zoom Video
Communications, 2024). At that time, the purpose of the study, confidentiality, and Informed

61
Consent (see Appendix C) were explained again. All subjects were informed that they were
voluntary participants and that they had the right to withdraw from the study at any time without
any repercussions.
On the day of the scheduled interview, I repeated to each participant the purpose of the
study, confidentiality, and Informed Consent. I also again highlighted that their participation was
voluntary and that they could withdraw from the study at any time during or after the interview.
Furthermore, each interviewee was informed that they had the right to decline to answer any
question they thought might be harmful to their well-being (Glesne, 2011).
After each interview was completed, I thanked the interviewees for their time and
contribution to the study. I also reminded each participant that the experiences they shared will
be treated with the utmost confidence, along with the transcripts from the interviews. Finally, I
sent a thank you email the following day that included a link to a $50 Target gift card as a token
of appreciation. Providing compensation required the use of personally identifiable information;
the risk of exposure was eliminated by the fact that I was the only person with access to the
online Target account used to email the gift cards to participants.
Confidentiality Parameters
The method used to identify and contact potential participants was through the Email
Letter (see Appendix A). The setting in which the participants interacted with me was through
email and a Zoom meeting for the interview. To join the Zoom meeting, a randomly generated
meeting identification number was used along with a unique passcode which was individualized
for each of the eight participants. The method used to obtain information about participants was
the Demographic Survey (see Appendix D) administered via Qualtrics.

62
The potential privacy risks of information participants share were minimal to none. All
responses to the survey and interview were kept anonymous and confidential. Each participant
had a right to withdraw from the study at any time and decline to answer any questions during
the interview. Furthermore, the options for participants to disclose their identity were none. Only
I was aware of the identity of each participant, and all survey and interview responses were
accessible only to me.
The steps taken to ensure access to the minimum amount of information necessary to
complete the study were that all participants received the Recruitment Letter (see Appendix B)
and the Informed Consent (see Appendix C). No information was obtained about individuals
other than the desired sampling information from the Demographic Survey. Furthermore, no
personal or identifiable information was obtained to facilitate the research and as part of data
collection for the study.
Data Management
In regard to data management, I remained current with cybersecurity practices by
practicing safe computing practices, staying current by reading technological articles, installing
anti-virus software, installing a firewall, and enabling automatic updates for Windows. Research
data was classified to identify access control by password and Duo Two-Factor Authentication,
data encryption by Norton Antivirus Software, and backup requirements by iCloud. Regarding
system authentication and security, I ensured that access to all confidential and sensitive data
was managed appropriately by using strong passwords, restricting user permissions to the files
being used, and locking the workstation when I was away.

63
Encryption
Data encryption was used to further protect confidential and sensitive research data. The
encryption stayed with the data as it traveled through the many networks, web servers,
application servers, and database servers. All confidential and sensitive email communications
were encrypted by OneDrive.
Dissemination of Findings
Once the data was collected and analyzed, I shared the findings with the participants; this
was done individually to maintain confidentiality. This ensured that there was no
misinterpretation of the meaning of what the participant said during the interview. Furthermore,
the findings were shared with the organizations from where the participants were recruited, to
help these organizations further understand the intersectionality of race and sexuality. Lastly, the
results of the findings were shared with those in the LGBTQ+ community who are interested in
giving voices to people who feel like they are not being heard. I hope that by sharing the
experiences of these subjects, it will bring more visibility to Asian Americans within the
LGBTQ+ community.
Data Analysis
There were two areas of data analysis for this study: the Demographic Survey (see
Appendix D), and the Semi-Structured Interview via an Interview Protocol (see Appendix E).
The Demographic Survey data was collected and exported to Excel (Microsoft Corporation,
2024) from Qualtrics (Qualtrics, 2024) for analysis. The Semi-Structured Interview data from the
Thematic Content Analysis (see Thematic Analysis section) was collected and exported to Excel
from NVivo (NVivo, 2024) for analysis.

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Descriptive Analysis
In this study, descriptive statistics analyzed data to identify the current status of identified
variables or characteristics of participants (Salkind, 2017). Descriptive statistics was used to
characterize data based on the properties of each demographic data point. One type of descriptive
statistics that was used in this study is measure of frequency; in particular, measure of frequency
was used to show how often a response was given. To find the frequency measure, I looked for
emerging patterns and frequently used words and phrases that participants used in their
responses.
Demographic Data
Demographic information was collected from all potential participants of this study via a
Qualtrics survey (Qualtrics, 2024). The eight participants selected scored 100% on the
Demographic Survey (see Appendix D) before being interviewed. All eight participants selfreported that they are of Asian descent, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, 18 years of age
or older, and living in the United States.
Thematic Analysis
Thematic Content Analysis (TCA) was used in this study. TCA is a descriptive
presentation of qualitative data that was taken from the semi-structured interview transcripts with
the research sample (Braun & Clark, 2006). NVivo transcription tools (NVivo, 2024) were also
used to support the transcription and analysis process. In the analysis, I closely examined the
data to identify common themes—topics, ideas, and patterns of meaning that came up repeatedly.
While there are various approaches to conducting TCA, the I followed the following six-step
process: familiarization, coding, generating themes, reviewing themes, defining and naming
themes, and writing up. The research findings from the TCA were organized per each of the

65
three research questions (see Research Questions). Furthermore, I selected quotes that were most
representative of the findings as related to those questions.
Familiarization
To start the process, I read and re-read all of the data to become familiar and immersed
with the content before analyzing the individual items. I became familiarized with each interview
response by conducting multiple reviews of the content and getting to know the data. During this
process, some ideas began to emerge, and I took notes of potential codes that assisted in the next
step, which is coding.
Coding
In this phase, codes were assigned that briefly described the data. As an interesting phrase
or sentence in the interview transcript was noticed that might be relevant to answering the
research questions, it was highlighted and assigned a code. This way of organizing the data made
it easier to assign it to recurrent themes in a later phase. Once all the data was coded, it was
collated into respective categories used for generating themes.
Generating Themes
For the next step, I then began sorting all of the codes into potential themes that were
broader interpretations of the data and of the codes identified. In this iterative process, I referred
to the codes and then began to arrange and rearrange them into different themes, each time
gaining a better understanding of the code’s relationship to the potential patterns that started to
emerge. This was when the coded categories’ meaning-making commenced, and the themes
began to take shape.

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Reviewing Themes
I then reviewed and refined the potential themes identified by reading the extracts from
the interview transcripts that were related to each code to ensure that they supported the assigned
article. The aim here was to establish coherent and unique pieces that captured all the content
relevant to the research questions. All themes were reviewed to ensure that the three research
questions were answered adequately.
Defining and Naming Themes
The next step was to begin to describe and name the themes by developing a detailed
analysis of each. Each theme’s definition was descriptive, coherent, and clear and demonstrates
how it relates to other themes and the main research question. The themes were appropriately
named and remained consistent with the study’s purpose and the overall framework (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016).
Writing Up
The meaning-making process took on an iterative nature. It occurred throughout all the
phases of analysis, culminating with a narrative analysis that was contextualized in the existing
literature that was reviewed. During the write-up phase, I continually reflected on the purpose of
the study, was guided by the research questions, and maintained objectivity, all the while
focusing on the intended stakeholders the study aimed to inform and, how the analysis answered
the research questions.
Reliability
Reliability refers to the extent to which research findings can be replicated (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016)—in other words if the study is repeated, will it yield the same results? Qualitative
research, however, seeks to describe and explain the world as those in the world experience it;

67
since there are many interpretations of what is happening, there is no benchmark by which to
take repeated measures and establish reliability in the traditional sense (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). Therefore, the strategies used to ensure the reliability of the study were the audit trail and
the researcher’s position/reflexivity.
Dependability
Dependability refers to the consistency and reliability of the research findings and the
degree to which research procedures are documented, allowing someone outside the research to
follow, audit, and critique the research process (Moon, et. al., 2016). To ensure the dependability
of the study, the method of the Audit Trail (see Appendix F) was used, which authenticates the
findings of a study by following the trail of the researcher. An audit trail in a qualitative study
describes in detail how data were collected, how categories were derived, and how decisions
were made throughout the inquiry (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Confirmability
To achieve confirmability, researchers must demonstrate that the results are clearly linked
to the conclusions in a way that can be followed and, as a process, replicated (Moon, et. al.,
2016). In qualitative research, the philosophical and epistemological position of the research will
be determined by both the problem and the predisposition of the researcher, in terms of their way
of categorizing “truth,” for example (Moon & Blackman, 2014). To achieve the confirmability of
the study, the strategy of researcher’s position, or reflexivity (see Chapter One) was used. This
strategy is how the researcher affects and is affected by the research process; investigators need
to explain their biases, dispositions, and assumptions regarding the research to be undertaken
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).

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Validity
Validity is broadly defined as the state of being well-grounded or justifiable, relevant,
meaningful, logical, confirming to accepted principles, or the quality of being sound, just, and
well-founded (Cypress, 2017). Validity is never something that can be proved or taken for
granted; validity is also relative—it has to be assessed in relationship to the purposes and
circumstances of the research, rather than being a context-independent property of methods or
conclusions (Maxwell, 2013). The strategies used to ensure the validity of the study were
member checks and rich, thick description.
Credibility
Credibility refers to the degree to which the research represents the actual meanings of
the research participants, or the “truth value” (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Though qualitative
researchers can never capture an objective truth or reality, there are a number of strategies that a
qualitative researcher can use to increase the credibility of findings. One specific strategy used to
increase the credibility of the study was Member Checks (see Appendix G), which documents
my post-interview interactions with the participants. Also called respondent validation, the idea
here is that the researcher solicits feedback on preliminary or emerging findings from some of
the people who were interviewed (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Transferability
Transferability, a type of external validity, refers to the degree to which the phenomenon
or findings described in one study are applicable or useful to theory, practice, and future research
(Lincoln & Guba, 1985), that is, the transferability of the research findings to other contexts. To
enhance the possibility of the results of this qualitative study transferring to another setting, I
used rich, thick description. It refers to a description of the setting and participants of the study,

69
as well as a detailed description of the findings with adequate evidence presented in the form of
quotes from participant interviews—(see Chapter Four), field notes—(see Appendices F and G),
and documents—(see List of Figures) (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Conclusion
This chapter outlined the methodology used to acquire the data needed to complete this
study and answer the research questions. The Semi-Structured Interview via an Interview
Protocol (see Appendix E) sought to gain an understanding of the challenges that GAM have
with the media. This method allowed me to build rapport, provide clarification when necessary,
and probe further to understand better the lived experiences of GAM in relation to the media.
Chapter Four will detail the results of this study based on the data collected from each of the
eight participants.

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Chapter Four: Presentation of Research
This qualitative study was designed to examine and understand the lived experiences of
GAM and how representation (or lack of) on traditional media, social media, and news media
affects them. Once the interviews were conducted, they were transcribed and categorized by
theme, with particular attention to how the responses related to and informed the study’s research
questions. This chapter begins with a profile of the participants so there can be a better
understanding of who was interviewed for this study. The subsequent sections of this chapter
detailed the findings and results of the study. The three research questions created to guide this
study were:
1. What are the lived experiences of GAM in relation to the media?
2. What are the challenges GAM have with the media?
3. How can the problems GAM have with the media be resolved?
Demographic Data
There were four demographic survey questions each participant was asked to complete
which enabled gathering of some background information about each subject (see Table 2).
These questions were used to determine ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, and location. The data
showed that the five participants were East Asian, while three were Southeast Asian. One
participant was in the 18-30 age group, while two were in the 46-60; the rest were in the 31-45
age group. None of the participants were over the age of 50. All participants identify as gay and
live in the city of Los Angeles.

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Table 2
Profile of Participants
Participant Ethnicity Sexual Orientation Age Group Location
1 Taiwanese Gay 46-60 Los Angeles
2 Chinese Gay 18-30 Los Angeles
3 Filipino Gay 31-45 Los Angeles
4 Filipino Gay 31-45 Los Angeles
5 Thai Gay 31-45 Los Angeles
6 Korean Gay 46-60 Los Angeles
7 Chinese Gay 31-45 Los Angeles
8 Chinese/Japanese Gay 31-45 Los Angeles
Findings
The analysis of this study started by coding the data. Coding is how you define what the
data you are analyzing are about; it involves identifying and recording one or more passages of
text or other data items such as the parts of pictures that, in some sense, exemplify the same
theoretical or descriptive idea (Gibbs, 2018). The categories or concepts the codes represent may
come from the research literature, previous studies, topics in the interview schedule, hunches you
have about what’s going on, and so on; in an approach known as a priori coding, it is possible to
construct a collection of codes in a codebook without, at first, using them to code the data (Gibbs
2018). Codes were chosen related to the three research questions, focusing on lived experiences,
challenges, and solutions.
Using this coding strategy, the transcripts were analyzed to identify common themes that
arose across the responses. A theme reflects important concepts in the data and is often
understood as “a generalized feature of a data set” (Ravitch & Carl, 2016). Various themes
emerged from the data, and many were recurrent themes among all of the participants. The
themes presented in this section helped to answer the research questions and they included:

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racism, emasculation, lack of visibility, negative stereotypes, more visibility, and positive
representation.
Furthermore, quotes from the interview responses were included to highlight the findings
in this chapter. They were explicitly interpreted, as this was part of the data analysis process, and
the findings were presented as a qualitative narrative, emphasizing how they answered the
research question. These quotes add to the rich, thick description of the data, which makes it
more transferable to another study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This in turn adds to the overall
validity of the study.
Research Question 1
This study’s first research question delved into lived experiences. Specifically, it asked
the following: What are the lived experiences of GAM in relation to the media? Table 3 displays
the themes from this question:
Table 3
Research Question 1 Themes
Development of Theme Final Theme
Racial ignorance/ignorant Racism
Blatant racism/discrimination/prejudices
Racist images/slurs
Racial trauma/low self-esteem
Sexual racism/no Asians
White supremacy/homogenous
Racial hierarchy/totem pole

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Cliques/factions/segregated
Internalized racism/self-hatred
Covid backlash/anti-Asian sentiment
Effeminate/feminine traits/feminine role Emasculation
Not masculine/masc/not butch
No femmes/no Asians
Soft skin/hairless/smooth
Positions of service/never in charge
Fetish/fetishized/fetishization
Exotic/exoticizing/exoticism
Subjugated/lower on the totem pole
Subservient/submissive/passive/demure
Rice queens/sticky rice
Not/less desirable; asexual
Not traditionally attractive/unattractive
Racism
Racism is a lived experience of any POC, and Asian Americans are no exception. It is
woven into every aspect of their lives. As detailed in the literature review, there has been an
uptick in anti-Asian sentiment since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, this
racism did not start just 4 years ago; it is rooted in the treatment of Chinese immigrants dating
back to the 1800s. Participant 1 spoke about this history:

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All this racism doesn’t just stem from the current media. These portrayals go all the way
back to the Chinese Exclusion Act, and newspapers and the way we were portrayed as
rats and the fact that we were called Celestials. You know, coming from the sky and how
we were seen as dirty, and we had queues. Where the media is now is residual from the
overt racism of the 19th and 20th centuries. It’s ingrained in us.
The theoretical framework of this study is intersectionality, and GAM are at a very
particular intersection. Racism is one of the streets at this crossroads. Participant 8 talks about
this intersection:
Yeah, it’s really that bad. I think some of the blatant racism, the othering, the intersection
that we rest in as Asian Americans of having a lot of privilege in some ways and being
able to get into certain spaces but still, truthfully, being a bit of a second-class citizen, I
think is a very interesting space to exist in.
Racism comes in many forms. One particular form that GAM experience is racism in the
LGBTQ+ community. Participant 2, a senior at USC, spoke about the prevalence of this on
campus:
[Racism in the LGBTQ+ community] It's rampant, honestly. And I see it at USC,
specifically in cliques that form. So, there are different factions that seem to stick
together. I think one of them that I think is honestly racist is the White gays who choose
to join frats together. And I think I've never seen someone with melanin in that frat. And I
think that's something that I struggle with because we know that fraternities are places
where White supremacy and misogyny [are fostered]. That doesn't feel like solidarity
with the majority of the community who doesn't feel safe in that space, and you're giving

75
them your money, you're getting thousands of dollars each year. So, like, your kind of
part of the problem in my eyes.
This lived experience within the LGBTQ+ community leads to internalized racism in
GAM; this is also something that I have also personally experienced. Participant 2 spoke again
about this:
I feel like there is a lot of internalized racism with most East Asians. And I don't think
that Asian men date other Asian men, and I’m not shielded from that either. I feel like
that is where I would hope to move the needle because I feel like especially living
through major social movements like Black Lives Matter, it is something that I think has
to be at the forefront of everyone's minds. I’d particularly like to see that in my own
demographic too.
Participant 1, who is married to a GWM, also gave his thoughts on the internalized
racism he witnesses among his friends:
I think a lot of gay Asian men will not date other Asians and not apologize for it, which I
think is really messed up. But I feel like if you only date White guys, you should at least
be aware of why you do it. Acknowledge that it is systemic racism that brought you to
that point. So yeah, I think there is a lot of self-loathing because a lot of Asians don't
hang out with a lot of other Asians, and I’ve made a conscious effort to cultivate a group
of gay Asian friends.
As for media, multiple participants spoke about the racism that is rampant in Hollywood.
This occurs both in front of and behind the camera. Participant 6, an actor, spoke about his
experiences with auditioning:

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[My agent] said, have you seen a Hawaiian Tropics commercial or ad, like Banana Boat?
And I was like, I’m auditioning for guest starring roles on TV and I’m coming in for like
a serious, what I think it's a serious moment. And I'm getting thrown into this bin that I
look like a Hawaiian Tropic model.
He further elaborated on the rampant typecasting that occurred when he went out on
his auditions:
When they wanted an Indian person [from India] I would go on those auditions, when
they wanted a Native American, I would go on those auditions. And by the way, this was
so infrequently, maybe once every six months. Oh, they’d like to see a Hawaiian person,
but when they want a Hawaiian person, they want you literally in palm fronds, like you
were coming in with a laurel on your head.
He then explained a phenomenon that occurs with Asian actors and why he doesn’t go on
many auditions anymore:
I hit this yellow ceiling. For instance, the biggest job I ever booked was with a half
Korean, half, I think she's Irish, her name is Moon Lovegood. And she came to my trailer
and said I have good news for you, you’re going to be a series regular for Season Two.
But she was relating to me about how the only reason I'm on the show is because I look
like her.
Participant 8, who works in development and production, gave his take on what occurs on
that side of the business:
I think there are subconscious prejudices that [people working in Hollywood] just can't
get over. And the sad thing is that I hear this from some of my Asian colleagues too when
they cast things, they're like, we just can't find anybody. That’s bullshit.

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He continues with his thoughts on Crazy Rich Asians (Ahn, 2022), one of the few movies
with a predominantly Asian cast:
I liked Crazy Rich Asians, but the fact that they had to cast Henry Goulding, who’s only
hapa, nothing against hapas, I have a lot of hapa cousins. But that’s ridiculous, it's like,
there are how many millions of us? Try harder, that's an excuse. I don't know what the
reasoning behind it is, but I know it to be just untrue.
The participants also had issues with racism on social media. Most of them focused on
social networking and dating apps, such as Grindr. Participant 7 vented about his frustrations
about this specifically:
On social media tools, like Grindr, there’s always no fats, no femmes, no Asians, that’s
also a race thing against us. Even if I didn’t want a Black guy, I wouldn’t post that on
social media saying no Blacks. Like, why do you have to publicly weed out people, there
are filters for a reason. You can weed people out without perpetuating that hate.
As mentioned before, there has been a rise in violence against Asian Americans. News
media has played a part in this uptick. Participant 4, who works for the organization Stop AAPI
Hate, spoke about this:
During the pandemic, there really was a rise in violence against Asian Americans, this
was just happening more often. For our company, it's good that we're hearing these types
of stories, and not everything gets reported too, because [Asian Americans] don't really
respond to a lot of these things. Or they don't always take reports. It's like, oh, that's not a
crime. It's kind of like freedom of speech. So, you don’t really hear people talking about
that as much.

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He tied this violence to the news media and the fear that Americans felt at the beginning
of the pandemic:
There was a lot of scapegoating, blaming, and misinformation during the pandemic, and
it revealed how easily people are swayed by it and commit violent acts. We hear about
the China virus from politicians, which became the rhetoric. People who looked Chinese
became a target, and people even violently attacked older Asian folks. I imagine that
calling HIV the gay virus in the media was horrible. In addition to TV and newspapers,
people get their news from the Internet and social media, which has a lot of
misinformation—people saying whatever they want that has harmful effects.
As stated earlier in this section, racism comes in many forms. Whether it be racism in
front of and behind the camera, on social media networking and dating websites, or racism tropes
on news media, it is a part of the everyday experiences of GAM. The participants in this study
detailed how they have dealt with these different forms of racism, and how it affected their lives
and mental health.
Emasculation
Another prevalent lived experience of GAM is emasculation. To emasculate someone
means to deprive them of strength, vigor, or spirit; also, of virility or procreative power
(Merriam-Webster, n.d.). Negative stereotypes perpetuated by the media add to the emasculation
of GAM, especially in the LGBTQ+ community. This is primarily accomplished by the
feminization of Asian men, which started in the 1800s by forcing them into professions typically
associated with women: cook, waiter, tailor, and laundryman (Park, 2013). From a historical
vantage point, these “feminized” professions have helped to create and stabilize an identity and
image of the Asian American male subject that continues to linger today in various stereotypes

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(Park, 2013). Participant 7 commented on how these stereotypes of femininity are still prevalent
in the media:
Then I've seen more and more of the token Asian guy [who is] gay, who is relatively
flamboyant. It's the role in which they always play. They'll have a gay accent, kinda like a
girl. Or like ladyboys, a lot of gay Asians are always categorized as a ladyboy, especially
in the Thai or the southeast community. You don’t really see, what you would call, a
butch gay Asian, it’s very scarce.
Participant 3 echoed this sentiment and spoke about emasculating stereotypes that he has
encountered:
The media’s portrayal of Asian men in general, very effeminate, not masculine, not
domineering, not dominant. In terms of sexuality, when people think of API gay men,
they think of bottoms, they don’t think of tops. That’s just the general sweeping
stereotype and I of course don’t agree with that. But that’s just what is portrayed in
media, and it comes from how Asian men are portrayed in general. White queer society
portrays gay Asian men as not desirable.
This portrayal can lead to the exoticization of GAM. Many of the participants felt the
way they are presented in the movies and television can lead gay men, especially GWM, to
exoticize them. Participant 8 said the following about the phenomenon:
I think and it's so fascinating that a lot of talent, you see this in modeling shoots as well,
it's like they really like the “very exoticized, Asian look.” We see a lot of actors with
mono-lids, we see a lot of actors, they look like they were almost pulled from a painting,
you know, from antiquity almost.
Participant 6, the actor, told the following story about an interesting conversation that he

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had with this agent:
I kept calling and calling [my agent]. It's like two years passes. I think I maybe went on
one or two auditions. I should be going on like six or seven a week let alone a month.
And friends that I know are, that are White. And she kinda got irritated and she's like, I'm
so sorry. She's like, every time I send you out, they're telling me that you're too exotic.
I’m like, what does exotic mean? I didn't know what that meant.
Another way GAM are emasculated is by sizeism, which is the discrimination against
individuals on the basis of their body size/weight (Chrisler & Barney, 2017). Many of the
participants felt that stereotypes of Asian men being skinny and small add to their emasculation.
Participant 8 felt the following way:
It's kind of interesting because I think it goes a little deeper into the complete demasculation and de-sexualization of Asian men, which can manifest in many different
ways, right? Of how someone can be made asexual, it can either be through just being not
traditionally attractive, it could be just because of various American stereotypes. It could
be that you're kinda short, you're kinda skinny, you're kinda small.
He currently works in Hollywood and made the connection between this stereotype and
the media:
I think Western media is very fascinating with who they choose to crown and who they
choose to feature in the spotlight. I think the beauty standards that Westerners prefer to
choose and Asians that they will allow into the media are very kind of traditional and
kind of stereotypical because Asian physiology across East Asia, Southeast Asia, varies
greatly within, even within specific ethnic groups.

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These experiences contribute to the emasculation of GAM. Portrayal in the media can
affect the perception of GAM and their attractiveness in the LGBTQ+ community. Participant 1
made the connection:
If the media portrays GAM as less masculine, we’re automatically gonna be seen as less
attractive. Never mind other alternative forms of masculinity, like what's coming out of
BTS and South Korea, like they just see what's on American television. Traditionally it’s
always been like, oh, if you're not masculine, you're just not attractive.
Participant 5, who used to work in Hollywood, added this comment about GAM and the
industry:
Stereotypical, like flamboyant or passive. This is how directors, writers, producers want
to portray us. You can have the White character and he's masculine. But why can’t the
Asian one be, you know? So, it just gives me an idea of how the rest of the world sees us
and that doesn't sit well with me.
All of these experiences can lead to the fetishization of GAM. In the LGBTQ+
community, men who fetishize GAM are known as rice queens, who desire GAM purely for the
purpose of eroticizing and exoticizing them and are often attracted to GAM based on idealized
notions of a passive, docile, and submissive lover, eager to please any GWM (Ayers, 1999).
Participant 1 said that “with GAM, we are fetishized which is good and bad. Only good in that at
least we know we can find some even though it's like a very small creepy sliver.” He also made
the connection between racism and fetishization:
We, as Asian Americans, we are subjected to the racist images that subjugate us and
make us uncool, and so a lot of us are drawn only to White men because they're seen as

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powerful and masculine. And so that messes up our dating lifestyle and makes us subject
to fetishization and it makes us not love ourselves.
This study addressed the problem of the emasculation of GAM through negative
stereotypes perpetuated by the media (e.g., being short, skinny, effeminate, submissive, passive,
less sexually attractive, etc.). Although some of the participants didn’t personally experience this,
they all agreed that the negative stereotypes perpetuated by the media led to the emasculation of
GAM in general. Furthermore, experiences of feminization, sizeism, exoticization, and
fetishization in the LGBTQ+ community are a direct result of this.
Research Question 2
The second research question of this study dealt with challenges. Specifically, it asked
the following: What are the challenges GAM have with the media? Table 4 displays the themes
from this question:
Table 4
Research Question 2 Themes
Development of Theme Final Theme
Don’t see Asian (American)/myself/no portrayal Lack of Visibility
Very few/no/don’t see gay Asian actors
No leading roles/no leading actors/no stars
Not the center/not the focus/not fully represented
Only supporting roles/sidekick/friend
Predominantly White/default White/no role models

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No Asians in news (other than Covid)/no anchors
No GAM writers/directors/behind the camera
Lack of/minimal/not often/no representation
Token Asian guy/only Asian/no Asian
Stereotypical roles/put in a category Negative Stereotypes
Short/small/smaller/little
Skinny/not/less muscular/body shaming
Western media/ideals/beauty standards
Nerd roles/glasses/caricature
Martial arts/karate/kung fu roles
Put in a box/grouped together/pigeonholed
Quiet/not very outspoken/non-threatening
Not assertive/domineering/dominant
Flamboyant/loud/catty/gay accent
Lack of Visibility
The first question in the Interview Protocol (see Appendix E) is: How do you see GAM
portrayed in the media? All eight participants had fairly uniform responses—that they don’t and
that there is a lack of visibility. The following table lists the remarks that were immediately said
after the question was asked:

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Table 5
Lack of Visibility Opening Statements
Participant Quote
1 I don't see GAM portrayed in the media that much.
2 There are no gay Asian characters that I’ve seen so far in the media
I’ve been consuming.
3 As an API mixed queer person, there is no portrayal of me in media.
4 I do see Filipino actors. Very few gay Filipino actors, but I do see them.
And gay Asian American actors, I do see every now and then. I do see
them more now, fewer but I do see them.
5 It's super minimal.
6 I don't, currently. I don’t see them at all.
7 It's not often [GAM] are represented in the media.
8 If I'm being completely honest, I don't see myself portrayed in the media
in a fully representative exterior interior sort of way, in my opinion.
Many GAM feel invisible in the media. Most comments from the participants focused on
GAM representation on film and television, with some references to social media and news
media. This is especially true when they are talking about their childhoods, before the social
media boom (with the exception of Participant 2, the USC undergraduate). Participant 7
recollects the late 1980s and early 1990s:

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Growing up, we didn't have much, growing up being gay and Asian was always
challenging and I think that, whether or not it was the media, it was just something that
we all had to go through in our own journeys because we didn’t have that role model on
TV.
Participant 5 had a similar experience to what he saw in movies while growing up in the
same time period:
You have your Whites and your Latinos and European-looking-featured gays, and in my
head conditioned, I'm thinking those are the desirables. So, in my head in general, people
making these movies know that, you know what I mean? So, they're gonna feature a
White gay main character or Latino gay main character and that's just what's been in my
head since I was young.
Some of the respondents did reference the few instances of GAM they saw in the movies
and on television. Most of these comments revolved around the recent movie Fire Island (Ahn,
2022). Participant 7 again shared his thoughts on this:
I think there are some instances [of representation]. In those instances, if you want to take
the Fire Island movie for example, that is some representation. It is cool to be
represented in the media more often, but I think that the representation is already so small
that any representation is already a step forward. Could it be more prominent, yeah, of
course, it could.
Participant 3 also shared his thoughts on the popular TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race
(Charles, 2009), one of the few that features GAM:
As for API queer gay men representation, there’s that Hulu movie Fire Island, Bowen
Yang, and Joel Kim Booster. And it’s very East Asian representative. You don’t really

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see Pacific Islander or Southeast Asian representation. That’s the only two I can think of
and it’s very, very recent. I would really have to rack my brain here, maybe on Drag
Race, that’s another one. Asian drag queens, but the thing is there’s not too many of
them.
The participants who work (or formerly worked) in Hollywood shared their experiences
on what this lack of visibility feels like from the inside. These stories were especially impactful
to me, since I worked at an agency and also in development. Participant 5, who used to work at
Logo TV, shared his thoughts:
I think there's a lack of representation and when there is representation, it's the supporting
role. Or it's the immigrant role, or it's a superhero who specializes in karate or you know,
stuff like that. So, it's like, there is representation, it is minimal, but it definitely isn't main
character representation. It's always the supporting role, the friend, or the sidekick. For
example, in the most recent rendition of the Spider-Man movies, he has that one friend,
Southeast Asian, and he's just a supporting role, you know, so he's never going to SpiderMan.
Participant 8, the former head of a production company, also shared his thoughts on this
lack of representation:
I'm sort of racking my brain trying to think of you know who, what even gay Asian
characters there are. I don't see myself. At least, I don't see my queer experience
represented in a holistic, organic, full way. You know, there's the gay experience, which
is separate from my Asian experience, but I can't really think of any specific character.
And the interesting thing for me, at least is that there are certain experiences that feel

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more universal but are perhaps more related to queer experience than specifically to the
queer Asian American male experience.
He also added his thoughts on Asian American actors and the challenges that they face
working in the industry:
We have so few Asian American dramatic male actors to begin with, and then once we
get to the subject of queer Asian American male actors, I can't really think of a
mainstream actor at all, who gets to do that in a more dramatic, serious role.
Participant 1, the writer/director, vented his frustrations on what it was like to try and get
a TV show about GAM made:
We were pitching the pilot around at the height of stop Asian hate. We thought we were
gonna get into all of these bidding wars and like Justin Simien [Haunted Mansion] was
executive producing. And Tara Duncan was chasing our pitch and I was like, oh, this is
gonna be hot. And slowly, people were passing one by one. And I thought, this is messed
up, because literally your social media is like, we believe in stopping Asian hate and I'm
like, if you really want to stop Asian hate like us content creators, you should greenlight a
show that shows us not as stereotypes, as three-dimensional human beings, all that stuff.
The frustration with the process could be heard in his voice. But he did not give up and
kept going:
And so, I wrote this letter to the three remaining buyers. And one of them bit, it was
Starz, and they ordered a pilot script and a Bible, and then the strike happened. This fall, I
was expecting to resume work on it, but then after the strike they were like, we’re getting
rid of their half-hour department. It was a gay Taiwanese show, it was about my
experience living in Los Angeles. And, you know, it's like so many Asian shows revolve

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around the family. And this was not around the family, this was about being gay in West
Hollywood with your besties, but from an Asian perspective, which I've never seen
before. And still doesn’t exist.
There were some comments from the participants about the lack of visibility of GAM on
social media. For many of them, the internet did not exist during their childhoods (similar to my
experience), and there were no smartphones. Therefore, they are not on social media as much as
younger people, but they do have a presence on it. Participant 5, who is in his early 40s, gave his
thoughts on it:
As far as social media goes, I will say I have seen a little bit more Asian representation
on social media. And I think it’s because you have these influencers who are Asian, more
so women. But not so much as far as gay Asians go in social media. In general, I think in
social media, all colors are represented because it's not really controlled like a movie or a
television show. So, you definitely see more of everything on social media to begin with.
Participant 6, who is in his mid-40s, shared his thoughts lack of visibility of GAM on
Instagram:
On Instagram. I don't follow anybody. But occasionally, I’ll like posts and the algorithm
is thinking I like the gym, I like fitness, and obviously I like beautiful men. So, I'm
tapping on these things, and it creates what it thinks I want to see. So, it's always
beautifully built, Eastern European men. it's never showing me a Korean fitness model.
As far as news media goes, some interviewees commented on the rise of negative
coverage of Asian Americans due to Covid-19. But there were no specific comments about news
coverage in connection to GAM. However, Participant 1 did mention how he wished there were
more GAM/Asian American news anchors:

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I feel like representation in all areas is still very scarce for queer Asians, the fact that we
can just talk about only two of them, it's not very good, right? We want to be able to talk
about queer Asian actors, the way we do about White actors or White gay actors or you
know, there's just not that many options and so I would love to see more out queer Asian
actors, I would love to see more out Asian news hosts and news anchors, and I think
that'll help a lot.
All eight participants had something to say about the lack of visibility of GAM and Asian
Americans in the media. This makes a powerful statement on how there needs to be
representation of GAM across all three media. It is important for the mental health of
marginalized groups, such as GAM who are at the intersection of racism and homophobia, to see
people who look like them on films, television, social media, and in the news.
Negative Stereotypes
Almost all of the participants dealt with negative stereotypes of GAM perpetuated by the
media, with the exception of one. This theme is closely tied to Emasculation—the negative
stereotypes that emasculate GAM that were already covered in that section are feminine, exotic,
fetish, short, skinny, and less desirable. However, this section focuses less on lived experiences,
and more on specific instances in media that add to the perception of these negative stereotypes.
Participant 4 spoke about what he sees watches television:
I’m watching a show called Loot, and I think he was also on Fire Island - Joel Kim
Booster. He’s very flamboyant, very stereotypically gay and Asian. Feminine acting,
really colorful clothing, into fashion, catty remarks. And also, Alec Mapa on Ugly Betty,
it’s very common to portray gay Asian men as feminine.

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Participant 1 recalled an upsetting incident he had heard about the show 2 Broke Girls,
created by Michael Patrick King:
There was a character on 2 Broke Girls who was played by a short Filipino dude, who
was really effeminate and annoying. But that was also a Michael Patrick King show. And
there was an incident where they were at an Asian film festival and some Asian person in
the audience asked, like, hey, why are you portraying Asian American men like this? And
he's like, Oh, I'm gay. I have permission to and it's this completely race-blind ignorant
way of thinking. Because I'm one discriminated minority, I can discriminate against
others. We're not all in the same boat. There are different levels. So, there's no nuance to
that statement.
Participant 8 spoke about his thoughts on the hit Crazy Rich Asians (Chu, 2018), one of
the few hit movies with a predominantly Asian cast:
Nico Santos comes up in Crazy Rich Asians and maybe his role in Superstore and, you
know, I mean, that feels a little bit like a stereotype to me. Don’t get me wrong, I do very
much like clothes, and I am that cousin at big family reunions, however, I don't look like
him. I don't really sound like him necessarily. I was born in Dallas, Texas, I'm actually a
Texan, it's not a complete representation, and it just feels a little bit backward.
He paused on his thoughts Nico Santos. After a moment, he backtracked and actually
tried to defend him:
Unfortunately, with Nico, I think it's like, they don't give him a cool haircut ever. He's
always in glasses, which makes you know, someone traditionally “unattractive.” He's not
you know, six percent body fat, because very few of us actually are. But I think he does

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an amazing job and it's not his fault by any means, it's how he's directed and the material
that he is given.
These negative stereotypes do not occur just in front of the camera. On the business side
of things, GAM working in Hollywood behind the camera also endure the same stereotypes.
Participant 1, the writer/director, remembered what it was like for him starting out in the
business as an assistant:
I remember when I was an assistant. There was that show Entourage where Rex Lee
played a gay Asian assistant, and I got constantly compared to him by my boss, which
was really annoying. They are basically like gay best friends, but it feels a little more
effeminate because they’re always in positions of service and never the people in charge.
I had the exact same experience when I worked as an assistant at an agency (where Lloyd
also worked at). Participant 1 and I commiserated on the experience:
We are seen as like the Rex Lee from Entourage, or like these subservient people, we’re
not seen as leaders in the workplace. And so, we get passed over for promotions. And as
a director on Fresh Off the Boat, that was great because everyone looked like me.
He continued to speak about experiences working on other TV shows that were not as
positive as the one on Fresh Off the Boat (Kahn, Kasdan & Mar, 2015):
But when I started on other shows, people would be like, oh, he feels a little green, he’s
not very assertive. So, all the stereotypes we have as like lotus blossoms. And so, I feel
like professionally I have to compensate for that by like, if there's a Q&A session, I'll be
the first one to raise my hand because I want to set the tone of and I want to let people
know I’m ready to talk.

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According to UCLA’s latest Hollywood Diversity Report, movies with an inclusive range
of performers make more money than those without (Horn, 2023). Yet even with that financial
incentive, meaningful change continues to be elusive, the UCLA researchers concluded: the
industry not only fails to mirror the nation’s demographics, but also is losing ground in some key
sectors (Horn, 2023). Participant 8, the former head of a production company, found this concept
perplexing:
I know some very tall, muscular, masculine, gay Asian men, and I've never seen a
portrayal like that in the media. I've seen some really feminine ones. We don't get the
masculine six-foot-tall representation, even though I actually know that exists. I've met
these boys; I've met a handful. And for some reason, Hollywood doesn’t like to tell their
stories.
Although some of the participants spoke about positive representation on social media
(which will be covered in a following section), none of them spoke about encountering negative
stereotypes of GAM while perusing the various sites. This is also the case for news media—a
few mentioned negative coverages of Asian Americans due to COVID-19, but none specifically
on GAM. In the case of film and television, there has been some movement in the right direction
for the representation of GAM in the media, but there is still a long way to go. Negative
stereotypes, such as femininity, passiveness, and not conforming to Western ideals, still persist
within Hollywood.
Research Question 3
Finally, the third research question of this study sought solutions. Specifically, it asked
the following: How can the problems GAM have with the media be resolved? Table 6 displays
the themes from this question:

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Table 6
Research Question 3 Themes
Development of Theme Final Theme
Looks like me/familiar to me/people like me More Visibility
More lead roles/main actor/star
More/better role models/more evolved characters
More queer Asians/diversity/stories
Podcasts/Literally Gaysians
Gay Tik Tok/Jon Kung
More content creators - YouTube/TikTok
More/increase in representation - movies/TV
Telling our stories/culture/experiences
GAM are attractive/good-looking/muscular/hot Positive Representation
Positive posts/reinforcement/highlight Asians
Not typecasted/different roles/all types
More GAM behind the camera/writers/directors
More body types/sizes/shapes
BTS/K-pop artists/K-dramas
Fire Island/Joel Kim Booster/Andrew Ahn
Bowen Yang/SNL/Nora from Queens

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Crazy Rich Asians/Nico Santos
RuPaul’s Drag Race/Asian drag queens
More Visibility
Each participant said, in one way or another, that GAM need more visibility in the media.
As an afterthought, most of the participants remembered that Fire Island (Ahn, 2022) came out
and had a GAM lead. But they all agreed that there needs to be more representation than just that
movie. Participant 7 stated, “I think there’s a long way to go, but I think that the steps are being
made to highlight gay Asians in society more. “As someone who used to work in Hollywood,
Participant 5 was more realistic and said that there needs to be “more GAM, even if it is in
supporting roles.” Participant 8, who currently works in Hollywood, echoed this sentiment: “I
think we need more content, regardless of whatever that content is, as long as it's true to
someone's experience.” He continued his thoughts on these experiences:
I think we rampantly just need more representation of experiences, of all sorts and of all
body sizes. Because it's like, again, with the Fire Island, I think it's great and it’s a start,
but I don't think that encapsulates everything.
Participant 4 had a similar comment about seeing more stories of GAM on the screen,
which will bring more GAM in front of the camera:
Seeing more of our stories being told, I think would be really great. So not just the
representation, but also just our stories. And it's nice to see certain things like oh, that’s
very familiar, that's part of our culture. So, I wanted to be able to see not just people that
look like me, but also are doing things that are familiar to me. That would be nice.

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Participant 1, the writer/director, told a story about how he attempted to tell more stories
about GAM:
Here television was doing an anthology series about being queer in Los Angeles. And I
was like, let's do one about Koreatown. Let’s do one about a Taiwanese Asian American
who falls in love with a Korean adoptee, who is completely out of touch with his culture.
And so that was like a 25-minute walk and talk about identity. And so that was a piece
that I'm really proud I did. So, I still don't find a lot of representations of gay Asians and
so I’m trying to create some myself because you create the show you want to see.
Participant 8, who works in development, shared his frustration with the blaring lack of
GAM in films and on television:
It did strike me that there were no East Asian characters in the Queer as Folk reboot, it
struck me that there were no East Asian faces and it's a sin. It struck me that in some of
these larger ensemble queer shows, there were no East Asian people in Looking, there
were no queer East Asian people in All of Us Strangers.
He continued on how he thought not seeing themselves on the screen, even in the
background, affected GAM:
We’re not even part of the ensemble, which I think is a big problem. And I think the more
stories we can tell of all sorts of different backgrounds, it's really necessary because
everyone has a very specific experience. What does it mean to be queer and Asian?
Participant 4 also had thoughts on how there needs to be more GAM representation
behind the scenes:
I think more visibility, more representation are good because it's better to see more
people like you on TV. It's nice to see more Filipinos on, it’s nice to see more Asians on.

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But it’s also nice to see more gay Asians on, and also seeing them portraying different
roles too. Not typecasted. And it would also be good to have more [GAM] in the
industry, not just the people you see on camera, but also people off camera like in
production and that kind of thing too. I think maybe that's an area that we don't really
think about very much though, but it'd be nice to see at the credits, oh, there's more of us
who are contributing to the movies.
Some of the participants also spoke about how there needs to be more visibility of GAM
on social media. However, since the content on social media is self-created, there are more
creators that are GAM. Therefore, representation on social media is better than on traditional
media. Participant 1 shared his thoughts on this:
I feel like social media, in particular TikTok and podcasting, are far ahead of film and
television in terms of representation. I think that's because the barrier to entry is a lot
lower. Right? You don't need zillions of dollars to start your own podcast. You just need
a mic and a laptop and so because of that, a lot of these traditionally marginalized voices
like Gaysians are brought to the forefront.
He continued to say that he enjoys the fact that he can easily find content that is created
by GAM:
I can find it easily and I listened to two podcasts back-to-back in the car and I usually
don't listen to podcasts. But it's so refreshing and uplifting, to have these hosts who know
what it's like to be Gaysian and I think it's I think it's great.
Not much was said about more visibility of GAM on news media. Some participants said
that there needs to be more positive representation, but that is covered in the next section.

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However, Participant 6 did mention that he wished he saw more Asian American representation
on news television shows:
During Black History Month, Robin Roberts who's on Good Morning America will do
like a one-hour episode celebrating hip hop. I wish they would do that during Asian
Pacific Islander Month which is in May. They could do segments. I wish I could watch a
video right now showing that the plight of Korean people is identical to Palestinian
people.
The conceptual framework for this study is QuAsian Theory, which combats negative
Asian American stereotypes (e.g., Model Minority, Emasculation, Exoticization, etc.) through
visibility in the LGBTQ+ community. All eight participants said in one way or another, that
there needs to be more visibility of GAM in the media. This invisibility, and not seeing someone
like them on the screen, has negative effects on their mental health. Although there has been
some progress recently (mostly with the movie Fire Island, Ahn, 2022), much more still needs to
be done.
Positive Representation
All eight participants agreed that with movies such as Fire Island (Ahn, 2022), there is a
slight uptick in the positive representation of GAM in the media. Some were more hopeful than
others, some were a little more pessimistic. The glass-half-full participants raved about Fire
Island, and how they hope to see more content like it. Participant 5 shared the joy he felt after
watching the movie:
I walked out of [Fire Island] feeling good. It was great. I was mentioning to my friends,
this is great that first of all, the main characters are gay and are Asian, even Margaret
Cho. And I feel like that was a good representation because they had the Asian female

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fruit fly, and they had the two Asian male main characters, and they were all different.
They had all different demeanors, personalities. And I walked out of there appreciative.
And I remember telling my friends, this is what I want to see.
He continued to say that he liked the fact that there were not just one, but two major
characters that are GAM:
I think we need to see representation of all types of Asian gays. Yes, put the feminine in
there, but also put the masculine ones in there, you know? Which Fire Island did a good
job of doing, because the two main characters, one was super masculine, and one was
not.
Participant 1, who works in Hollywood, also shared how excited he was about the
positive GAM representation:
Bowen Yang…it's great to see someone who looks like me on the screen being funny. So
that is progress. And he owns his ethnicity and he’s not playing into stereotypes, which I
love. Asians can be funny, Asians can be fabulous, Asians can be witty, without being
subjugated. Then Joel Kim Booster is you know, he tried so hard to be a leading man
with Fire Island. I was really excited about that.
Participant 8 works in the industry and knows the director of Fire Island, Andrew Ahn.
He also shared how happy the movie made him:
So, I loved that [Fire Island] was kind of based off of Pride and Prejudice, and I thought
it was so well written. I do know Andrew Ahn a little bit, not socially very much but
mostly through work, and I had known of Joel Kim Booster before, I'd seen a few of the
stand-up things. And I am so, so happy, I very much enjoyed Fire Island.

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However, although he felt very positive about Fire Island (Ahn, 2022), he did have some
reservations about the movie:
Neither Joel nor Bowen [Yang] fully encapsulates my specific experience. I'm
somewhere between them, which was interesting to see. It was composite. But I love that
the movie exists, and I thought it touched upon some really true experiences that I think a
lot of us experience and a lot of us have gone through in a way that was funny but really
heartfelt.
Furthermore, although the lead male character is not gay, some participants thought that
the massive box-office success of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Cretton, 2021)
helped promote a positive image of Asian men. Simu Liu’s character is portrayed as strong and
masculine, which is the opposite of most other male Asian characters in movies. However,
Participant 5 had an issue with the martial arts angle:
I think [Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings] is great, you know, I'll take it, but at
the same time, it's like, why does he have to be a kung fu fighter? Or why does he have to
be, you know, a fighter in general? I just think, yeah, they are main characters, but it's
still the same. The character that they do portray is Bruce Lee-like. And I love the movie,
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. I love that movie. It was great. But at the
same time, you're playing a martial artist type of character.
Many of the participants saw the rise in popularity of the K-pop band BTS as a positive
step not just for Asian men, but also for GAM. The members of the band contradict Western
ideals of masculinity and proudly present an image of what is considered “feminine.” Participant
1 shared his thoughts on the phenomenon:

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BTS is also doing a lot because they’re showing an alternate more genderqueer form of
masculinity where they may wear makeup, they wear lipstick, and they wear flamboyant
clothing but at the same time, they're owning the masculinity even though they’re dressed
up a little more feminine. So, I think that's helping too.
He also shared the thoughts of his stepdaughter, which he said is his way of knowing
what is “cool” nowadays:
My stepdaughter is 20 years old, and I talk to her about people she's listening to, like
BTS, and she's like oh yeah, they’re totally hot. And she is White so I use that as sort of
like a measuring standard for me to gauge what’s in the zeitgeist.
Most of the comments made about positive representation were about traditional media.
As for social media, most participants were satisfied with the overall representation of GAM.
However, Participant 7 thought that more could be done:
I feel like the solution needs to come from those who have the strongest voice. There are
some gay influencers that have like a million followers, right? They are the ones that
could perpetuate positive reinforcement, and then that will spread faster because they
have those millions of followers.
Not much was said about news media and positive representation. I asked Participant 4,
who works for an organization that tracks violence against Asian Americans, if there was a
decrease in this violence since COVID-19 is no longer the focus of the news now. The latest data
is not out yet, but he had the following to say on the topic:
Violence continues regardless of the media's attention. Generally, violence goes
underreported, and data usually comes from those who reported it, and it varies (like a lot
of reporting during the pandemic). In addition to hate crimes, there are hate acts.

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Anecdotally, Asian/Asian Americans have mentioned never experiencing hate acts until
the pandemic and continue to experience it.
The literature review for this study relied on Queer Media Theory, which calls for the
normalization of homosexuality through positive representation in the media. Through movies
like Fire Island and K-pop boy bands like BTS, this representation can help the overall public
have a more positive view of GAM. Furthermore, the abundance of GAM creators on social
media, like YouTube and TikTok, can also help increase the exposure of GAM and hopefully
change people’s minds about ingrained stereotypes that are still prevalent.
Conclusion
The eight participants in this study opened up about their lived experiences with the
media. These experiences included racism, which is part of their everyday lives, and
emasculation which is especially prevalent in the LGBTQ+ community. They also unanimously
expressed their concerns over the lack of visibility of GAM in the media. Furthermore, negative
stereotypes and images also added to the emasculation GAM experience, through characters who
are portrayed as feminine, diminutive, and submissive. Chapter Five will help uncover some
recommendations that could help GAM resolve these challenges with the media.

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Chapter Five: Summary, Implications, Conclusions
This study addressed the problem of the emasculation of GAM through negative
stereotypes perpetuated by the media (e.g., being short, skinny, effeminate, submissive, passive,
less sexually attractive, etc.). Furthermore, the purpose of the study was to explore how
representation (or lack of) on traditional media, social media, and news media affect GAM. This
chapter brings all of the research for this study together and ties the data to the conceptual
framework and literature review. It begins with a summary of findings and then summarizes the
conclusions based on research questions. This is followed by a discussion; it then suggests future
research and recommendations.
Summary of Findings
Although the eight study participants had unique experiences, they generated similar
themes, perceptions, and beliefs. There were outliers for some of the themes, which will be
discussed in the conclusions below. However, in general, most of the participants at least
touched on each of the themes. It is notable that every single interviewee mentioned that there is
not nearly enough representation of GAM across all three of the media and that much more is
needed. This lack of visibility has detrimental effects on the mental and physical health of GAM.
Most of the participants also felt that there were negative portrayals of GAM in the media,
whether they be racist or emasculating, and that more efforts need to be made by the industry to
stop these portrayals from happening. Suggestions include more visibility, more positive
representation, and more regulation of negative content.
Conclusions
Based on the research findings, several conclusions could be drawn to answer the three

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research questions of this study. These research questions focused on lived experiences,
challenges, and solutions. The following table displays the responses of the participants to each
of the themes:
Table 7
Participant Responses to Themes
Participant Racism Emasculation Lack of Negative More Positive
Visibility Stereotypes Visibility Representation
1 X X X X X X
2 X X
3 X X
4 X X X X X
5 X X X X
6 X X X X
7 X X X X X
8 X X X X X X
Research Question 1
This first research question asked: What is the lived experience of GAM in relation to the
media? The themes that emerged from this question are Racism and Emasculation. The next two
sections outline the conclusions that can be made for these two themes:

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Racism
Seventy-five percent of participants contributed quotes to this theme, which makes sense
since racism is a part of POC’s everyday lives. Participant 5 did briefly comment on racism
against Asian Americans in the LGBTQ+ community, but it was not substantial enough to
include as a quote in this section. However, it is notable to mention that in the lived experiences
portion of the interview, Participant 2 (who is 22 years old and a senior at USC) spoke almost
exclusively on racism and did not touch much on homophobia. This was a complete surprise to
me. This specific conversation is the inspiration for the suggestion that is made in the future
research section that follows in this chapter—are younger generations (Gen-Z and below) of the
general population more accepting of homosexuality?
Emasculation
Sixty-two percent of participants contributed quotes to this theme; this number is slightly
lower than the others since the cause of the emasculation of GAM is through Negative
Stereotypes, which is a theme in the section of this study that deals with the challenges of GAM
with the media. One interesting comment was made by Participant 4, who is of Filipino descent.
He said that these emasculating stereotypes don’t really affect him since people seem to think he
is of Latino descent. He spoke about how the Spaniards colonized the Philippines in the 16th
century; they have Spanish blood mixed in with them and many Filipinos are of the Catholic
religion because of this. This is one explanation for why he is sometimes mistaken as Latino and
why he didn’t have any responses for this section.
Research Question 2
The second research question asked: What are the challenges GAM have with the media?
The themes that emerged from this research question are Lack of Visibility and Negative

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Stereotypes. The next two sections outline the conclusions that can be made for these two
themes:
Lack of Visibility
As mentioned previously, 100% of participants said that there is a troubling lack of
visibility of GAM in the media. The first question of this study is: How do you see GAM
portrayed in the media? The immediate response of each interviewee was that there are little to
no portrayals of GAM in the media. This result aligns with the conceptual framework of the
study, which is QuAsian Theory. This theory combats negative Asian American stereotypes
(e.g., Model Minority, Emasculation, Exoticization, etc.) through visibility in the LGBTQ+
community. The fact that every single participant commented on this theme, shows that this lack
of visibility is the cause of harmful and inaccurate stereotypes of GAM within the LGBTQ+
community, and also explains the negative experiences that GAM men have on dating apps such
as Grindr.
Negative Stereotypes
Fifty percent of respondents contributed quotes to this theme. This number is the lowest
of all the categories; however, many negative stereotypes were already covered in the
Emasculation section. Aligned with the problem of practice of this study, these included
feminine, short, skinny, passive, submissive, and less sexually attractive. All but one of the
interviewees said they are affected by negative and emasculating stereotypes. The one outlier of
this theme is Participant 3—he said that he is “pretty confident in myself. I felt bad about myself
on the East Coast and in New England where it is super White and people were really racist, but
here in LA I feel validated, I feel seen, I feel wanted, I feel desired.” It was refreshing to hear

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that not all GAM are negatively affected by the stereotypes of GAM in the media, and some can
actually have positive experiences.
Research Question 3
Finally, the third research question asked: How can the problems GAM have with the
media be resolved? The themes that emerged from this research question are More Visibility and
Positive Representation. The next two sections outline the conclusions that can be made for these
two themes:
More Visibility
Seventy-five percent of the respondents contributed quotes to this theme. Since 100% of
them said that there is a lack of visibility, the obvious solution for this problem is more visibility.
Participant 2 made comments about Asian American men in general but did not specifically
reference GAM. Participant 3, who is of Filipino descent, once again made an interesting
comment about how both of the leads in Fire Island (Ahn, 2022) were East Asian: “You don’t
really see Pacific Islander or Southeast Asian representation of gay men.” Perhaps another
suggestion for future research could be to explore this idea further. Even within the limited
visibility of GAM in the media, there needs to be even more visibility for Southeast and South
Asians who seem to feel even more invisible than East Asians.
Positive Representation
Sixty-two percent of the respondents contributed quotes to this theme. Although all of the
interviewees touched on this subject in one way or another, Participants 2 and 3 focused more of
their suggestions on the More Visibility section and Participant 6 spoke more about his personal
experiences as an actor regarding solutions. This theme aligns with Queer Media Theory (QMT),
which the literature review of this study relied on. QMT calls for the normalization of

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homosexuality through positive representation in the media. The interviewees who did touch on
this theme spoke about how GAM come in all shapes and sizes, and how they should not be
portrayed in the media in just one certain way. They specifically referenced Joel Kim Booster in
Fire Island (Ahn, 2022) and his contrast with Bowen Yang, who is not as masculine or muscular
as Booster.
Discussion
The theoretical framework for this study is Intersectionality. This theory provides a
framework that includes a constellation of identities in relation to privilege and oppression;
identity is not static but contingent and contextual and the simultaneous effects of multiple
identities are noted (Cooper, 2017). The aim of this study was to tell the stories of GAM who are
at the intersection of racism and homophobia. This is important because the stories of people
who are not in the majority, which includes anyone who is at the intersection of any prejudices,
are often not part of the narrative as a whole.
Counter-stories
This study sought to tell the counter-stories of GAM. Solorzano & Yosso (2002) define
the counter-story as a method of telling the stories of those people whose experiences are not
often told (i.e., those on the margins of society). The counter-story is also a tool for exposing,
analyzing, and challenging the majoritarian stories of racial privilege. Counter-stories can shatter
complacency, challenge the dominant discourse on race, and further the struggle for racial
reform.
Like all other POC, the participants of this study told their stories of the racism they
experienced in the media. Unfortunately, this racism is also a part of their everyday lives. The
racist characters and images they come across lead to another counter-story, this one about

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emasculation. The media perpetuates stereotypes of GAM being feminine, diminutive, and
submissive. The participants hope that with the recent positive representation in Fire Island
(Ahn, 2022) and its stars Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang, this trend continues, and even
more stories of GAM are told.
Homophobia
As half of the intersectional experience of GAM, homophobia is a notable part of the
literature review of this study; it is also a large part of my lived experiences. However, although
there were some references to homophobia in the interviews, there was not enough to develop a
theme. This was also a complete surprise to me. Just recently, The Washington Post reported that
right-wing politicians and preachers have openly called for killing LGBTQ+ people; on a
conservative talk show, Mark Burns, a Donald Trump-allied congressional candidate from South
Carolina, called ‘LGBT, transgender grooming’ a national security threat and proposed using
treason laws as the basis for ‘executing’ parents and teachers who advocate for LGBTQ+ rights;
in Texas, a pastor railed against Pride month and said LGBTQ+ people “should be lined up
against the wall and shot in the back of the head” (Heer, 2022).
Generation Gap
In the lived experience portion of his interview, Participant 2 (the senior at USC) spoke
almost exclusively about racism; there was little to no mention of homophobia. Once again, this
was a complete surprise to me since this was definitely not my experience, especially in my
formative teen/college years. According to the General Social Survey (GSS), a national poll
fielded every two years, there has been a steady decline in the percentage of Americans who say
same-sex relationships are always wrong; importantly, that decline has been seen in every
generational group, even those who haven’t attended elementary school in half a century (Bump,

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2023). Furthermore, younger Americans have grown up in a country that was less hostile to gay
relationships than it used to be; therefore, they are more comfortable expressing their sexual
identities openly (Bump, 2023).
Suggestions for Future Research
There is little research on GAM and the media. This study used a phenomenological
approach to bring qualitative research to the topic and tell the lived experiences of GAM, who
are at the intersection of racism and homophobia. However, as mentioned in the previous
section, Participant 2 noted in his interview that he doesn’t experience much homophobia while
on social media due to algorithms, but still encounters racism against Asian Americans. Does
this ring true with most of the younger generations regarding their experiences with homophobia,
not only on social media, but in general? Is American society as a whole more accepting of
homosexuality?
A quantitative survey of Gen-Z GAM is necessary to explore this phenomenon, which is
contrary to my experiences. A survey design provides a quantitative or numeric description of
trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population; from
sample results, the researcher generalizes or draws inferences to the population (Creswell &
Creswell, 2018). In an experiment, investigators may also identify a sample and generalize to a
population; however, the basic intent of an experimental design is to test the impact of a
treatment (or an intervention) on an outcome, controlling for all other factors that might
influence that outcome (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).
A survey of 100 younger GAM needs to be conducted to see if newer generations are
more accepting of the LGBTQ+ community, focusing on social media. In homage to The
Birdcage’s release in 1996, that should be the cutoff year for when participants are born. This

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means the age range of respondents of the survey will be between 18-28 years old. This is
slightly different than the age group from the Demographic Survey (see Appendix D), which was
18-30 years old. The quantitative survey age demographic will still start at 18 years old to avoid
having the study not be exempt with USC’s IRB.
Recommendations
The following practice recommendations are essential to address the challenges GAM
have with the media. Utilizing the LCA Action Model, the first recommendation is aligned with
the conceptual framework and focuses on increasing the visibility of GAM in the various media.
The second recommendation is aligned with QMT and goes further to suggest that this increase
in representation of GAM in the media should be positive and not add to established negative
stereotypes.
The LCA Action Model
The change model this dissertation utilizes is the Lights! Camera! Action! (LCA) Model.
Unlike the other models used in the Organizational Change and Leadership program that are
based on learning and motivational theories, this transformational change model is rooted in
critical theories such as Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Queer Theory. The three steps of the
LCA Action Model are outlined below:
Awareness
The first step of the LCA Action Model is Lights!, which illuminates the problem and
results in awareness of the need for change. Awareness represents a person’s understanding of
the nature of change, why the change is being made, and the risk of not changing (Hiatt, 2006).
Awareness also includes information about the internal and external drivers that created the need
for change, as well as “what’s in it for me” (Hiatt, 2006).

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In a critical theory context, this entails the challenge of dominant ideology. CRT
challenges the traditional claims that institutions make toward objectivity, meritocracy,
colorblindness, race neutrality, and equal opportunity (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002). Critical race
scholars argue that these traditional claims act as a camouflage for the self-interest, power, and
privilege of dominant groups in U.S. society (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). Furthermore, queer
theorists advocate critical processing, which includes actively critiquing heteronormativity and
exposing and breaking down traditional assumptions that sexual and gender identities are
presumed to be heterosexual or cisgender (Jagose, 1996).
Knowledge
The second step of the LCA Action Model is Camera! or having the equipment (e.g.,
knowledge, skills) to make the change happen. Knowledge represents the information, training,
and education necessary to know how to change (Hiatt, 2006). Knowledge includes information
about behaviors, processes, tools, systems, skills, job roles, and techniques that are needed to
implement a change (Hiatt, 2006).
CRT starts from the premise that race and racism are endemic, permanent, and a central
rather than marginal factor in defining and explaining individual experiences of the law
(Solorzano & Yosso, 2002). Although race and racism are at the center of a critical race analysis,
they are also viewed at their intersection with other forms of subordination such as gender and
sexuality discrimination (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002). Furthermore, CRT recognizes that the
experiential knowledge of POC is legitimate, appropriate, and critical to understanding,
analyzing, and teaching about racial subordination (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002). In fact, critical
race theorists view this knowledge as a strength and draw explicitly on the lived experiences of
POC by including such methods as storytelling, family histories, biographies, scenarios,

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parables, cuentos, testimonios, chronicles, and narratives (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002). Moreover,
CRT challenges ahistoricism and the unidisciplinary focus of most analyses and insists on
analyzing race and racism by placing them in both historical and contemporary contexts
(Solorzano & Yosso, 2002).
Action
Finally, the third step of the LCA Action Model is of course Action! to make the change
happen. This step is committed to social justice and offers a liberatory or transformative response
to racial, gender, class, and sexuality oppression (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002). This includes the
elimination of racism, sexism, poverty, and homophobia, and the empowering of subordinated
minority groups (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002).
This step is deeply rooted in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy of civil disobedience.
For Dr. King, non-violent direct action was constructive, creative engagement of the American
nation; its goal was not anarchy (as the term ‘disobedience’ connotes), but justice and peace for
people of different races living within one nation (Mallampalli, 2011). Forms of civil
disobedience come in many forms, including walkouts, sit-ins, product or service boycotts,
blockades, unofficial marches, occupations, debt refusal, and protests (Meleen, 2020). Violence
is never the way.

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Figure 10
The LCA Action Model
Note: The three steps of the Lights! Camera! Action! Model are based on awareness,
knowledge, and action.
Recommendation 1: More Visibility
The conceptual framework of this study is QuAsian Theory, which combats negative
Asian American stereotypes (e.g., Model Minority, Emasculation, Exoticization, etc.) through
visibility in the LGBTQ+ community. GAM face the challenge of invisibility in the media. The
first action to tackle this problem is to start from the ground up. In Hollywood, the guilds have
some programs in place to encourage more diversity within the industry and help up-and-coming
actors, directors, and producers.
For example, SAG-AFTRA has formed committees focused on LGBTQ+ and Asian
American Actors. The purpose of the LGBTQ committee is to provide support to lesbian, gay,

114
bisexual, and transgender members and to educate the membership, the industry, and the public
on LGBTQ issues with a focus on ending discrimination in the workplace and expanding work
opportunities (SAG-AFTRA, n.d.). The Asian Pacific American Media (APAM) Committee
effects positive and lasting change in the entertainment and news media so that the American
scene is truly reflected. Through education and advocacy, the committee works with these
industries, SAG-AFTRA members, community organizations, and the public to enhance the
perception of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (APIAS) as a viable and talented
demographic. The committee’s ultimate goal is the increased quantity and improved quality of
employment opportunities and depictions of APIAS (SAG-AFTRA, n.d.).
Furthermore, the Directors Guild of America (DGA) provides programming focused on
education, networking, career development, and mentorship through the Director Development
Initiative (DDI). Since the program launched in 2016, four cohorts of members have completed
the mentorship program as protégé while hundreds of members have engaged with learning
opportunities through the DDI Labs (DGA, n.d.). The DDI Mentorship Program is a nine-month
program focused on increasing diversity in the directorial pipeline for episodic television by
utilizing core strategies such as pairing protégé with seasoned episodic television directors as
mentors and creating meaningful space for networking and peer-to-peer learning within a
competitive cohort space (DGA, n.d.).
Moreover, the Producers Guild of America (PGA) also has a similar initiative. PGA
Create was launched in Fall 2021 with the lead sponsorship support of Google. PGA Create is a
lab for emerging and mid-career creative producers from underrepresented backgrounds who are
in active development, financing, or packaging of a feature or series (PGA, n.d.). Participants

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have opportunities to hone their project pitches, attend master classes with experienced
producers, and build their network of fellow producers (PGA, n.d.).
According to UCLA’s Hollywood Diversity Report, movies with an inclusive range of
performers make more money than those without; yet even with that financial incentive,
meaningful change continues to be elusive (Horn, 2023). The industry not only fails to mirror the
nation’s demographics, but also is losing ground in some key sectors (Horn, 2023). To remedy
this problem, the guilds need to have all of the above-mentioned services in place. This includes
specialized committees, mentorship programs, and labs to train burgeoning LGBTQ+ and Asian
Americans in Hollywood. If there are more actors, directors, and producers in the industry that
identify this way, there will be an increase in stories about these communities told and bring
more visibility to them overall.
Recommendation 2: Positive Representation
The literature review of this study relied on Queer Media Theory, which calls for the
normalization of homosexuality through positive representation in the media. This is the second
action to combat the racism and emasculation GAM experience in the media. One way to create
this positive representation of both the LGBTQ+ community and Asian Americans is to
encourage creators to produce content that shows them in an affirmative and favorable way. This
is especially true on social media platforms such as YouTube and TikTok where anyone,
regardless of being at intersections of prejudice, can start a channel and produce content without
a lot of money.
However, research from the Association for Computing Machinery found that 95% of
content creators deal with unwanted attention on social media, but only 50% of them feel they
have access to the resources they need to negotiate those interactions (Gutelle, 2022).

116
Furthermore, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s 2022 report on Online Hate and
Harassment, online harassment is experienced by 66% of LGBTQ+ individuals, compared to
38% of non-LGBTQ+ individuals (Moscufo & Dobuski, 2022). LGBTQ+ and Asian American
creators need to feel safe and supported to be able to produce positive content for their
communities.
Therefore, platforms like YouTube and TikTok need to focus on decreasing the amount
of toxic and hateful comments that content creators and artists have to frequently experience on
their posts. A new report by Bot Sentinel illustrates how egregious YouTube policy violations go
unpunished and how YouTube rewards Creators who repeatedly violate its policies (Jones,
2022). For example, the YouTube channel Trevor Coult MC is brimming with threats of
violence, racism, transphobia, misogyny, and xenophobia; yet his videos have received nearly 18
million views and YouTube allows Trevor to monetize his channel (Jones, 2022).
To accomplish this, there needs to be more people reviewing more content. Human
reviewers remain essential to both removing content and training machine learning systems
because human judgment is critical to making contextualized decisions on content (Wojcicki,
2017). The platforms need to manually review more videos for violent extremist content and
help train machine learning technology to identify similar videos in the future; they also need to
take aggressive action on comments and launch new comment moderation tools—and in some
cases, shut down comments altogether.
Furthermore, there needs to be greater transparency and a clearer view of how platforms
tackle content and comments that violate community guidelines. In addition to the consistent
review and revising of policies and guidelines, they need to send out regular reports of aggregate
data about the flags they receive and actions they take to remove videos and comments that

117
violate their content policies—these reports should go directly to creators (Halprin & O’Conner,
2022). On top of this, additional tools need to be developed to help bring even more transparency
around flagged content.
Finally, the violation of community guidelines needs to be tackled at scale. The only way
this is possible is by using cutting-edge machine learning to review and flag videos and
comments by the thousands per day; this helps human reviewers remove harmful content at a
much quicker and more efficient rate (Halprin & O’Conner, 2022). This action is crucial to
achieving the goal of increasing the removal of comments and posts that violate community
guidelines by an amount that will make a true difference for LGBTQ+ Asian American content
creators.
Conclusion
While research establishes how stereotypes perpetuated by the media negatively affect
the LGBTQ+ community, few studies examine the distinct ways that stereotypes specifically
affect Asian American members of the LGBTQ+ community. Therefore, the intention of this
study was to bring attention to how representation (or the lack of) in the media affects LGBTQ+
Asian Americans. The participants of this study, who are all GAM, felt without a doubt that there
is little to no visibility of them in traditional, social, and news media. Furthermore, the limited
visibility that does exist reinforces negative stereotypes of GAM. Through the recommendations
outlined in this chapter, the various media outlets can help combat these issues and bring about
positive change for LGBTQ+ Asian Americans.

118
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Appendix A: Email Letter
Dear XX,
My name is Isaac Takeuchi and I'm a doctoral candidate at USC Rossier School of
Education. I am currently working on my dissertation with my advisor, Dr. Marsha Riggio, and it
is titled: Representation of Gay Asian Men in the Media. I have been granted IRB approval to do
my research from my institution. I would like to interview gay Asian American men about their
experiences with negative stereotypes and lack of visibility in the media.
I’m wondering if you would be able to help me gain access to this population? I have
attached the recruitment letter that explains the parameters of my study. Please reach out with
any questions. Thank you for your time and I look forward to continued communication.
Sincerely,
Isaac M. Takeuchi
USC Doctoral Candidate
itakeuch@usc.edu

139
Appendix B: Recruitment Letter
Hello, my name is Isaac Takeuchi and I'm a doctoral candidate at USC Rossier School of
Education. I’m in search of research participants to take part in a study to share their experiences
in relation to stereotypes of gay Asian American men in the media, as well as the overall
visibility of Asian Americans. I would like to discuss how these experiences affect your mental
health. This research is important as it aims to understand what your lived experience was, in
order to best deal with the challenges of negative stereotypes and lack of visibility in the media.
This study is voluntary, and participants can withdraw at any time without repercussion.
Your participation will consist of a virtual interview via Zoom approximately 45 minutes in
length. The eligibility criteria are: be at least 18 years of age, be of Asian origin, identify as gay,
and live in the United States. Participants in this study will receive a $50 Target gift card via
email after the interview.
If you are interested in participating in this study, please do not hesitate to contact me at
itakeuch@usc.edu, and I will send you a link to a demographic survey to confirm your eligibility
for the study.
Sincerely,
Isaac M. Takeuchi
USC Doctoral Candidate

140
Appendix C: Informed Consent
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
3470 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089
INFORMATION SHEET FOR EXEMPT RESEARCH
STUDY TITLE: Representation of Gay Asian Men in the Media
INVESTIGATOR: Isaac M. Takeuchi
ADVISOR: Marsha Riggio, Ph.D.
You are invited to participate in a research study. Your participation is voluntary. This
document explains information about this study. You should ask questions about anything that is
unclear to you.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of traditional media, social media, and
news media on gay Asian men. Through the participant’s lived experiences, the study will show
how stereotypes presented by the media affect gay Asian men. You are invited as a possible
participant because you stated through a self-report that you are of Asian origin, identify as gay,
are of adult age, and live in the United States.
PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
If you decide to take part in this study, you will be invited to participate in a virtual
interview on Zoom with this researcher. The questions asked will be about your experiences
regarding stereotypes perpetuated by the media. The interview will be scheduled on a day and
time that is convenient for you. You will need to connect to the internet to join Zoom and be
available for approximately 45 minutes. The researcher will email you the Zoom link the day

141
before the interview. Once your appointment time arrives, please sign in to the Zoom link. The
interview will be completed in one meeting, and, with your permission, it will be recorded on
Zoom.
PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
You will receive a $50 Target gift card for your time. You do not have to answer all of
the questions in order to receive the card. The card will be emailed to you when you complete
the interview.
CONFIDENTIALITY
The members of the research team and the University of Southern California
Institutional Review Board (IRB) may access the data. The IRB reviews and monitors research
studies to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.
Your responses will be kept confidential and will be stored in NVivo for the duration of 3
years at which time they will be destroyed. All identifiers will be removed, and pseudonyms will
be used in place of names.
I will publish the results in my dissertation and publication. Participants will not be
identified in the results. I will take reasonable measures to protect the security of all your
personal information. All data will be de-identified prior to any publication or presentation. I
may share your data, de-identified with other researchers in the future.
Your responses will be audio/video records. You have the right to review the audio/video
recordings or transcripts. Only the researcher will have access to your responses. Your name and
responses will be coded, and a pseudonym will be used when referring to your responses.

142
INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions about this study, please contact researcher Isaac Takeuchi at
itakeuch@usc.edu or faculty advisor Marsha Riggio at mriggio@usc.edu
IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant, please contact the
University of Southern California Institutional Review Board at (323) 442-0114 or email
hrpp@usc.edu.

143
Appendix D: Demographic Survey
Answering these questions is completely voluntary and will be used as eligibility criteria
to participate in the study. Your answers to these questions will be kept confidential and will not
be shared or reviewed by anyone other than the researcher of this study. By answering these
demographic survey questions you are consenting for the researcher to review your responses.
1. How old are you?
o Under 18
o 18-30
o 31-45
o 46-60
o Above 60
2. Are you of Asian origin?
o Yes
o No
3. What is your sexual orientation?
o Gay
o Bisexual
o Transgender
o Other
4. Are you currently living in the United States?
o Yes
o No

144
Appendix E: Interview Protocol
Respondent Type:
Gay Asian men (GAM) who are 18 years old and older and living in the U.S.
Research Questions (RQ):
1. What are the lived experiences of GAM in relation to the media?
2. What are the challenges GAM have with the media?
3. How can the problems GAM have with the media be resolved?
Key Concepts (KC):
1. Negative Stereotypes
2. Visibility
3. Emasculation
Interview Questions Potential Probes RQ
Addressed
KC
Addressed
1. How do you see GAM portrayed
in the media?
Are you happy with what you
see?
1 1, 3
2. What do you think the portrayal
of GAM in the media causes the
general public to think of them?
Do you think that negative
stereotypes are formed from
this portrayal?
1 1, 3
3. How does this portrayal affect
the way others see you?
Does this affect your
confidence and self-esteem?
1 1, 3

145
4. How does this portrayal affect
the way you see yourself?
If negative, does this affect
your overall mental health?
1 1, 3
5. What are some frustrations you
have, if any, with the portrayals of
GAM in the media?
Or do you think the portrayal
of GAM in the media is
positive?
2 1, 3
6. Studies show an overall lack of
Asian representation in the media.
What are your frustrations with
this lack of visibility?
Or do you think there is
adequate Asian representation
in the media?
1, 2 2
7. What do you see being done to
address possible issues of negative
portrayals of GAM in the media?
Or do you not see anything
being done?
3 1, 3
8. What do you think the media
can do to do a better job with
Asian representation and
visibility?
There has been a recent rise in
Asian representation. Do you
think it’s enough?
3 2

146
Appendix F: Audit Trail
Proposal Defense:
Aug. 5-Sept. 7, 2023 Writing period - Chapter 1 (draft), Chapter 2 (outline), Chapter 3
September 8, 2023 Chapters 1-3 submitted to Dr. Riggio
September 22, 2023 Chapters 1-3 submitted to committee members
October 6, 2023 Passed proposal defense
IRB:
October 20, 2023 Sent updated Interview Protocol to Dr. Ayesha Madni, who I had
for Inquiry II. She gave me additional notes on it.
Revised Interview Protocol.
October 24, 2023 IRB application submitted
November 7, 2023 Skye Parral with USC IRB informed me that I neglected to submit
my recruitment materials (Email Letter and Recruitment
Letter) and that edits were needed to my Informational Sheet.
I submitted my recruitment materials. Skye offered to edit my
Informational Sheet for me.
November 8, 2023 Skye notified me that my recruitment materials were approved
and that she edited my Informational Sheet.
November 8, 2023: IRB approval notice sent
Study Approval Notice
Date: Nov 08, 2023, 04:12 pm
Action Taken: Approve

147
Principal Investigator: Isaac Takeuchi,
ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Faculty Advisor: Marsha Riggio,
ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Co-Investigator(s): N/A
Project Title: Gay Asian Men in the Media
Study ID: UP-23-01046
Funding: N/A
Recruitment:
November 20, 2023 Email Letter sent to Julie Chobdee at USC.
Email Letter sent to Jessica Stoneham at the Los Angeles LGBT
Center.
November 21, 2023 Julie Chobdee sent Email Letter to Peter Limthongviratn at the
USC Asian Pacific Islander Faculty and Staff Association.
November 22, 2023 Jessica Stoneham sent Email Letter to Jazzmun Crayton at APAIT.
November 28, 2023 Jazzmun Crayton put me in contact with Jury Candelario at
APAIT.
Recruitment Letter sent to Jury.
December 5, 2023 Recruitment Letter sent to Peter Limthongviratn.
Peter sent Recruitment Letter out to eligible members of his
organization.
December 6, 2023 Participant 2 at USC contacted me about participating in the study.

148
Link to Demographic Survey and Informational Sheet is sent to
him.
December 8, 2023 Jury Candelario sent Recruitment Letter to eligible members of his
organization.
December 9, 2023 Sent Recruitment Letter to Stevenson Green, who used to work at
Logo TV. He sent the letter to eligible people he knows.
December 11, 2023 Participant 3 at APAIT contacted me about participating in the
study. Link to Demographic Survey and Informational Sheet is
sent to him.
December 14, 2023 Participant 5, a friend of Stevenson Green, contacted me about
participating in the study. Link to Demographic Survey and
Informational Sheet is sent to him.
December 16, 2023 Sent Recruitment Letter to Angelina Chen, who works as a literary
manager in Hollywood. She sent the letter to eligible people she
knows.
December 18, 2023 Participant 1, a friend of Angelina Chen, contacted me about
participating in the study. Link to Demographic Survey and
Informational Sheet is sent to him.
December 19, 2023 Participant 4 at Stop AAPI Hate contacted me about participating
in the study (referred by Jury Candelario). Link to Demographic
Survey and Informational Sheet is sent to him.
December 20, 2023 Participant 6, a friend of Julie Chobdee, contacted me about

149
participating in the study. Link to Demographic Survey and
Informational Sheet is sent to him.
December 22, 2023 Participant 7, a friend of Julie Chobdee, contacted me about
participating in the study. Link to Demographic Survey and
Informational Sheet is sent to him.
December 27, 2023 Participant 8, a friend of Angelina Chen, contacted me about
participating in the study. Link to Demographic Survey and
Informational Sheet is sent to him.
Data Collection:
Interview period start: December 16, 2023
Interview period end: December 31, 2023
Participant 1:
Referred by: Angelina Chen
Interview Date: December 19, 4:00 pm PT
Ethnicity: Taiwanese
Notes: Director/writer. Recently directed episodes of Fresh Off The
Boat for ABC
Participant 2:
Referred by: Peter Limthongviratn
Interview Date: December 20, 9:00 am PT
Ethnicity: Chinese
Notes: Currently a senior at USC, majoring in Intelligence and Cyber

150
Operations
Participant 3:
Referred by: Jury Candelario
Interview Date: December 21, 2:30 pm PT
Ethnicity: Filipino
Notes: Human Relations Program Manager/Social Worker, Asian Pacific
Aids Intervention Team (APAIT)
Participant 4:
Referred by: Jury Candelario
Interview Date: December 21, 6:00 pm PT
Ethnicity: Filipino
Notes: Researcher for Stop AAPI Hate (I am on the mailing list for Stop
AAPI Hate and have received emails from him)
Participant 5:
Referred by: Stevenson Green
Interview Date: December 22, 12:00 pm PT
Ethnicity: Thai
Notes: Former production executive at Logo TV; now works as a
manager at the corporate office of Nobu restaurant
Participant 6:
Referred by: Julie Chobdee
Interview Date: December 23, 5:30 pm PT
Ethnicity: Korean

151
Notes: Actor, Fitness Instructor, DJ
Participant 7:
Referred by: Julie Chobdee
Interview Date: December 26, 2:00 pm PT
Ethnicity: Chinese
Notes: Restaurant general manager; UCLA graduate
Participant 8:
Referred by: Angelina Chen
Interview Date: December 29, 1:30 pm PT
Ethnicity: Chinese/Japanese
Notes: Head of a production company
Data Analysis:
Jan. 2-Feb. 4, 2024 Writing period - Chapter 2
Feb. 5-Feb. 19, 2024 Coded/pulled quotes
Feb. 20-Mar. 18, 2024 Writing period - Chapter 4 & 5
March 19, 2024 Sent Chapters to Dr. Riggio
April 5, 2024 Sent Chapters to committee
April 19, 2024 Passed Dissertation defense

152
Appendix G: Member Checks
Participant 1:
February 20, 2024 Follow-up email sent. I was able to pull quotes for all six of my
themes from this interview. So essentially my follow-up to him
was telling him how much information I got from him and
thanking him. I feel lucky that this was my first interview, because
I was not as adept at asking probing questions as I was by the last
interview.
Participant 2:
February 21, 2024 Follow-up email sent. I let him know that I was using his quotes in
the “Lack of Visibility” section and the “Racism” section
(specifically regarding internalized racism and racism in the
LGBTQ+ community). I did not have any follow-up questions for
him and asked him if he had any for me.
February 23, 2024 Sent another follow-up email. We spoke about racism in the
LGBTQ+ community, which I will include in the “Racism”
section. But I asked him if he could tie this racism to the media—I
specifically asked him about this since we spoke about how there
is less homophobia now, and our discussion focused more on
racism.
Participant 3:
February 22, 2024 Follow-up email sent. I let him know that I am using his quotes in

153
the “Lack of Visibility” and “Negative Stereotypes” sections of my
chapter 4. I did not have any follow-up questions for him. I
thanked him for his contribution to the study and asked him if he
had any questions for me.
Participant 4:
February 23, 2024 Follow-up email sent. I let him know that I will be using his
quotes in the “Lack of Visibility,” “Negative Stereotypes,” and
“More Visibility” sections. He works for the organization Stop
AAPI Hate, and we spoke about the rise in violence against Asian
Americans during COVID-19. I asked him if he could make a
connection between this uptick and the media.
March 10, 2024 Followed up on the above email, in an attempt to get more quotes
for the news media portion of Chapter 4. Some of these quotes
were added to the “Positive Representation” section.
Participant 5:
February 27, 2024 Follow-up email sent. I let him know that I will be using his
quotes in the “Lack of Visibility,” “Emasculation,” “More
Visibility,” and “Positive Representation” sections. I thought his
quotes in the “Positive Representation” section were particularly
helpful and insightful. I did not have any follow-up questions for
him.
Participant 6:
February 25, 2024 Follow-up email sent. This was one of the longer interviews and

154
there was in turn a wealth of information in it. I let him know that I
am using quotes in the “Lack of Visibility,” “Racism,”
“Emasculation,” and “More Visibility” sections. I found his
viewpoints on the racism he experienced auditioning as an actor in
Hollywood insightful and fascinating. I did not have any follow-up
questions for him.
Participant 7:
February 28, 2024 Follow-up email sent. I let him know that I will be using his
quotes in the "Lack of Visibility," "Negative Stereotypes,"
"Positive Representation," and "Racism" sections of the study. His
quotes on “Positive Representation” was particularly helpful and
also focused on social media (which I needed quotes on). I did not
have any follow-up questions for him.
Participant 8:
February 29, 2024 Follow-up email sent. I let him know that I was able to pull
multiple quotes for all six of my themes from his interview, which
was a nice way to end the interviews. I think it was a combination
of him working in the industry for so many years, and that I was a
little better at asking the right questions by this last interview. I had
no follow-up questions for him.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Takeuchi, Isaac Masayoshi (author)

Core Title Representation of gay Asian men in the media

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Degree Conferral Date 2024-08

Publication Date 07/12/2024

Defense Date 04/19/2024

Publisher Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Asian critical theory,emasculation,gay Asian men,intersectionality,Media,OAI-PMH Harvest,queer theory,Racism,representation,stereotypes,visibility

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Riggio, Marsha (committee chair), Spann, Rufus (committee member), Trahan, Don (committee member)

Creator Email isaactakeuchi@gmail.com,itakeuch@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113997OHA

Unique identifier UC113997OHA

Identifier etd-TakeuchiIs-13225.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-TakeuchiIs-13225

Document Type Dissertation

Format theses (aat)

Rights Takeuchi, Isaac Masayoshi

Internet Media Type application/pdf

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Source 20240715-usctheses-batch-1182 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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