Dear GAPIMNY Member,
Thank you for being part of our family! In the spirit of connection and transparency, we are providing you with an update on the plans that emerged from the Steering Committee’s annual Planning Meeting and introducing our theme for 2016—Coming Together: Creating Safe Spaces for Queer Asian and Pacific Islanders (QAPIs).
This theme comes at a time when GAPIMNY’s audience and leadership are larger and more diverse than ever. Since our genesis in 1990, our Steering Committee has expanded from 3 people to 15, and just last month, our mailing list increased to more than 1,000 subscribers from across the tri-state area and beyond. Our programming has evolved to include everything from Pride marches and political rallies, to immigration workshops and hiking trips. And just a couple of years ago, GAPIMNY launched a bi-monthly happy hour, Elixir, which is indisputably the most attended program in the organization’s history, often attracting more than 100 visitors per event.
The theme Coming Together acknowledges that in light of our growth, GAPIMNY remains committed to creating spaces that enrich and support the increasing diversity of our membership, encompassing a spectrum of ages, ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, and gender expressions. As part of this effort, we plan on offering programs that reflect a range of QAPI interests and experiences, such as viewings of art exhibitions and theater productions, as well as ice cream socials and dim sum outings. We are also planning workshops on how to be better transgender allies and how local politics impact QAPIs, as well as a workshop on the wonders of Japanese porn. Furthermore, we are marching in the Lunar New Year and Manhattan Pride Parades in partnership with other organizations serving queer people of color.
As we implement our plans for the year, we are convening committees to support different organizational initiatives, including a Pride Committee and a Social Committee. In doing this, we aim to provide additional touch points for member engagement and cultivation of new young leaders. We hope you will consider joining our efforts and will answer our call for committee participation in the coming weeks.
GAPIMNY’s Steering Committee is excited about our plan for 2016 and the work ahead to build a stronger and more inclusive QAPI community. Thank you for your generous donations and membership dues, which enables almost all of our programming to be free.
See you at our next event!
Yours truly,
Rafael Flores and Jason Kwong
2016 GAPIMNY Co-Chairs
The 2016 GAPIMNY Steering Committee
- Aryo Wicaksono, Administrative and Development Chair
- Clement Chan, Communications Chair
- Patrick Lin, Community Liaison
- Brandon Chin, Downetime Chair
- Richy Lou, Finance Chair
- Ryan Shen, Membership Chair
- Jason Wu, Political Chair
- Taimour Chaudri, Social Media Chair
- Danny Taing, Social Chair
- John Cheng, Member-At-Large
- Kevin Du, Member-At-Large
- Paul Lee, Member-At-Large
- Jason Tseng, Member-At-Large