How Uniting Queer Asians Through Nightlife Became a Global Movement
From Bubble T in New York City to Worship in Sydney, Arthur Tam looks at the nightlife spaces that are uplifting and unifying the queer Asian diaspora all over the world
February 24, 2021
Lead ImageA night at New Ho Queen, Toronto – Reggie in the hot potPhotography by Hao Nguyen
When I was living in Los Angeles, there was no space like Bubble T. No space where so many Asian folks of so many different ethnic backgrounds and queer identities would gather together and celebrate aspects of their heritage. No space that played the notes that resonated with my Chinese, American and queer identity. It just didn’t exist.
Lunar New Year is the time of year that’s usually a boon for Chinatown.
But Boston s Chinatown like other Chinatowns across the country - has been racked by a constellation of economic slowdown and ramped up racism and xenophobia. And for the first time anyone can remember, no one’s expecting to see parading troupes of dancing dragons and lions ringing in the new year.
Before the pandemic, Jackie Church gave tours of Chinatown. Two evenings ahead of the day the Year of the Ox begins, the scene at the district s iconic gate is quiet.
“Typically, these streets would be full of people right now, Church says. There would be lanterns all over, lighting the way home for the ancestors to come home and have the big family reunion banquets, which are really important.