Cambodian American prisoner released + Activist on being LGBTQ and Asian: Your AAPI newsletter

It is Thursday, July 2, and this is The Sacramento Bee’s AAPI weekly newsletter.

Here’s a recap of the stories I’ve recently covered and issues I’m following:

Advocates called for California Gov. Gavin Newsom to release Chanthon Bun, an immunocompromised Cambodian American refugee, from state prison. Bun, who grew up in Los Angeles, was scheduled to be transferred to ICE custody on Wednesday despite being granted parole four months earlier, and was starting to show some early symptoms of the coronavirus.

On Wednesday evening, advocates announced that Bun had been released from San Quentin State Prison after 22 years of incarceration. Bun was convicted of second-degree robbery and use of a firearm when he was 19. Although no one was hurt during the incident, according to Hien Nguyen, an advocate with Asian Prisoner Support Committee, Bun was sentenced 49 years to life.

In San Quentin, Bun took self-help courses, community college classes and discovered a passion for art. He also became a mentor for many of the inmates there, according to Somdeng “Danny” Thongsy, an advocate with Justice Reinvestment Coalition.

“Just imagine how much he would be able to contribute out here, how much of a mentor he would be to the youth out here who are struggling with the lifestyle he once was in,” Thongsy said.

Tee Fansofa, a nonbinary, gender nonconforming, Sacramento-based activist, spoke with The Bee about the challenges of growing up LGBTQ and Laotian American. Fansofa grew up in a large Lao community, many of which emphasize the importance of the patriarchy. The Lao boys Fansofa grew up with fed into stereotypical masculine behavior, such as being physically aggressive and disrespectful to women. At times, this environment made it physically risky to be LGBTQ.

“I come from … a really toxic environment where I know I could be killed or really beat up just for coming out,” Fansofa said. “That stays with me.”

There’s been some progression toward LGBTQ acceptance in the Lao community, Fansofa said, but homophobia and transphobia is still a problem. That’s why Asian Americans — and Americans as a whole — need to have honest, vulnerable conversations about LGBTQ identity to safely explore who they are in order to address biases with community members who may not understand, Fansofa said.

“I knew it was the only way to create the future I wanted to live in and see for future generations,” Fansofa said.

In other news

• China to impose visa ban on Americans interfering in Hong Kong [Bloomberg News]
• ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ author Kevin Kwan tackles crazy rich Americans [Los Angeles Times]
• Bay Area mom, NYT bestselling author shares her experiences amid rise in racism toward Asian-Americans [KTVU]
• Hundreds of anti-Asian American hate incidents reported in California during pandemic [The Mercury News]
• Filipino American who had strict religious upbringing launches Queer Youth of Faith Day [NBC News]
• Bruce Lee’s daughter on ‘kung flu’: ‘My father fought against racism in his movies. Literally.’ [NBC News]
• Trump surrogate, Biden discuss immigration, race relations in Asian American town hall [NBC News]
• A year and a half in, The Juggernaut challenges mainstream media’s coverage of South Asians [Nieman Lab]
• Allen Lew, a virtuoso builder of public works, dies at 65 [New York Times]
• Essay: Why be a ‘model minority’ when you could dismantle white supremacy? [The Nation]

This week in AAPI pop culture

Calling all Asian American performing artists! “KPOP: The Broadway Musical” is holding virtual casting calls for performers of Asian descent in their 20s. Interested? Go to kpopbroadway.com/casting and submit a video of yourself singing a contemporary K-pop (or pop) song; a dance reel, clip of a dance performance, and a résumé or brief description of your singing, dancing, acting and performance experience. (If you do end up snagging a part, please let me know!)

Got a story suggestion? Please reach out to me at awong@sacbee.com.

That’s it for this week’s newsletter. Thanks for reading, and have a safe Fourth of July weekend!

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This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 10:46 AM.