{"id":17539,"date":"2026-06-24T17:31:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T17:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17539"},"modified":"2026-06-24T17:31:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T17:31:36","slug":"first-of-its-kind-queer-museum-in-san-francisco-chinatown-amplifies-chinese-lgbtq-artists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17539","title":{"rendered":"First of its kind queer museum in San Francisco Chinatown amplifies Chinese LGBTQ+ artists"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By TERRY TANG and TERRY CHEA<\/strong><\/p>\n

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) \u2014 On one side of the world, Xiangqi Chen can be punished for her LGBTQ+ activism. But on the other, the activist and artist is lauded as a trailblazer \u2014 the architect behind the first of its kind Chinese queer art museum.<\/p>\n

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The irony that she left her home in China and found a public platform for her LGBTQ+ artistic expression in San Francisco\u2019s Chinatown \u2014 the country\u2019s oldest \u2014 is not lost on her.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in San Francisco Chinatown, I still continued my journey and met so many like-minded community members and friends,\u201d Chen told The Associated Press through an interpreter. \u201cIt kind of actually encouraged me and gave me lots of strength to do what I know is my mission, my calling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The OUT Museum opened with a rainbow-ribbon cutting at the end of May \u2014 between Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Pride Month. Situated across from the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum, the bilingual museum is giving recognition to a demographic that has long felt invisible. It seems like an ideal fit in the progressive city at a time when some cities, states and the federal government are restricting or banning certain LGBTQ+ rights.<\/p>\n

To start, the museum is only open on Saturdays and is one room with fewer than a dozen artworks by artists from China and the Chinese diaspora. But there is hope to expand the museum\u2019s exhibits and days of operation.<\/p>\n

Museum allows Chinese artists to fully tell their stories<\/h4>\n

While still living in China, Chen launched a Kickstarter for a proposed museum six years ago \u2014 more than 2,000 donated on the platform. But she knew it likely wouldn\u2019t be built there. In 2022, she came to the U.S. on a J-1 visa as a visiting scholar at Georgetown University. By 2024, Chen gained attention in San Francisco for her role in an exhibition at the Asian Art Museum. That led to a residency with the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco.<\/p>\n

The organization was \u201cproud to be the incubating space for the OUT Museum prototype,\u201d executive director Jenny Leung said in an email.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The level of support that followed amazed Chen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got so many chances to connect with the local Asian American queer community and even the Chinatown community in general,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Interest soon followed from longtime collaborators and younger artists who reached out via Instagram. They are represented in the inaugural exhibition, which includes photography, zines and an interactive installation where visitors use thread to trace their self-discovery journey with gender and sexuality.<\/p>\n

For Hong Kong-born artist Dixon Ngai, this museum offers an outlet to tell his story as mainstream media typically overlook the Chinese LGBTQ+ community. He contributed a hand-painted, Chinese porcelain wine pot inspired by the Cantonese opera \u201cDi N\u00fc Hua,\u201d or \u201cThe Flower Princess.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Ngai said the OUT Museum, unlike other exhibitions, is very specific to the experience of the Chinese queer community, allowing \u201cmore people to see our voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Museum affirms evolving attitudes toward LGBTQ+ presence<\/h4>\n

Since the museum\u2019s opening, Chen has been \u201cone hundred percent moved\u201d by unexpected feedback from one particular demographic: Chinese immigrants, both queer and straight, who have lived in California for decades.<\/p>\n

A 60-year-old transgender man who visited shared how he immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s for crucial gender-affirming care. There was also a mother looking to connect with her gay adult son.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe later emailed me saying that she\u2019s so grateful for all the events the art museum has organized,\u201d Chen said. \u201cHer son came out to her, and she\u2019s very proud of her son and she wants to express gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

These reactions are proof the museum is elevating the visibility of Chinese, Chinese American and Asian American LGBTQ+ people, said author and activist Helen Zia, a museum advisory board member. It also shows how attitudes have shifted, she said, as it would have been difficult to mount even 20 years ago.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere were Asian churches who would have demonstrations week after week with thousands of people just condemning same-sex couples,\u201d Zia said, recalling the response from the Chinese community in 2008 when she handed out pro-gay marriage flyers in Oakland\u2019s Chinatown. \u201cWe got people yelling at us, spitting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later that year, Zia and her wife were among many couples who wed after the California Supreme Court rejected a same-sex marriage ban. Even today, she says the museum\u2019s presence sends a needed message.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee our humanity,\u201d Zia said. \u201cHere\u2019s the beautiful art that we create and imagine and contribute to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

LGBTQ+ life in mainland China\u00a0versus the US<\/h4>\n

Being homosexual in China means living under the radar and discriminatory policies. In 2001, the Chinese Psychiatric Association stopped listing homosexuality as a mental disorder. But LGBTQ+ couples still cannot marry or adopt. They are also limited in their right to publicly advocate. When Chen lived in Shanghai, she ran a grassroots center for lesbians. One of the reasons she left was because during the pandemic the government started cracking down on spaces for LGBTQ+ activism.<\/p>\n

She likely could not even put on an art show, let alone a museum.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom 2013 to 2015, that kind of art exhibition by queer artists (could) exist, but only if you don\u2019t explicitly show or tell the audience that your work or yourself identify as queer or LGBTQ,\u201d Chen said. \u201cBut not nowadays.\u201d<\/p>\n

That Shanghai center is how Zia met Chen a decade ago. Zia was doing research for a book and toured the center.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s been just incredibly brave in China, creating a center that attracted a lot of state attention,\u201d Zia said.<\/p>\n

A key difference Chen has noticed among American-born Chinese LGBTQ+ people versus those in China is they are more educated about gender and sexual identity and have more access to support.<\/p>\n

Under the second Trump administration, LGBTQ+ rights are increasingly under threat. President Donald Trump\u2019s administration has targeted gender-affirming care and sought to ban transgender people in the military. Some anti-Pride lawmakers recently proposed \u201cNuclear Family Month.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Francisco also recently dealt with shifting LGBTQ+ attitudes after Giants baseball players wrote Bible verses on Pride Night hats.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the Chinese artists say the social landscape here is a breath of fresh air.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in San Francisco, in California, we enjoy the air of freedom, there is equal human rights, there is security,\u201d Ngai said. \u201cSo, we are very proud to be ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

This Sunday, Chen will proudly walk in her first San Francisco Pride Parade. She will plug the museum while dressed fittingly as a woman warrior from a Cantonese opera.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think completing this opening will be a start for me. It\u2019s not the end,\u201d Chen said. \u201cWe still have a long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Tang reported from Phoenix.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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