Asian American man just became California’s youngest and first openly bisexual legislator

Alex Lee may have just become the youngest legislator to sit in the California Assembly, but he still has to deal with his cat, Soba, interrupting Zoom conferences.

“Don’t do that,” Lee scolded as Soba strutted over his keyboard during an interview with The Sacramento Bee, tail flicking into the camera.

Lee is just 25 years old and he’s already won an Assembly seat representing District 25, which encompasses San Jose, Fremont and Santa Clara. The San Jose and Milpitas native is also the first openly bisexual legislator and joins the growing number of Asian Americans in California’s elected offices.

Until recently, Lee was working part time for a delivery app while still campaigning full time. He lives with his parents in San Jose out of economic necessity.

“I just knew in my heart that I had the fire to do this and I knew I could do the job well,” Lee said.

Public office wasn’t always Lee’s goal. At the University of California, Davis, his alma mater, he was torn between filmmaking and politics. He sees a lot of similarities between the two. Like filmmaking, politics requires teamwork, collaboration and using stories to explain how certain policies can improve constituents’ lives.

But it wasn’t until 2012 when his passion for politics was solidified by witnessing President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign. After graduating, he went on to work at the district office of Assemblyman Evan Low, D-Campbell, and the Capitol office of state Sen. Henry Stern, D-Calabasas.

Now, he wants to get more progressive voices like his into the state Capitol.

“From being a legislative staffer for multiple members, I understood how frustrating it is … to not have strong progressive voices willing to take risks for the California people,” Lee said. “I was frustrated that ... we aren’t able to realize the promises that we often talk about.”

He also wants to use his office to make room for more people of color in politics, including Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. He said that’s especially important for a community like San Jose, where the variety of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds creates a unique cross-section of needs.

“Being Asian American in such a diverse community lets me see how strong the diversity makes us,” Lee said. “It’s not just … some talking point or tokenism. It’s a real, informed position.”

Intersecting politics and Asian, bisexual identity

Lee’s politics aren’t defined solely by his background or identity. But he sees these things as potentially helpful when doing outreach with AAPI constituents, he said.

For many AAPI communities in San Jose, he said, he won’t have an outsider’s perspective. Many of his constituents’ struggles match his own lived experiences as a young, openly bisexual, progressive Asian American who had to join the gig economy during the pandemic to make ends meet.

San Jose is where AAPI communities that differ on many things from income and education level to cultural background come to meet, Lee said. Each community faces different issues, Lee said, and he knows each will have different needs and expectations because of this.

“Approaching that with a lot of nuance, especially the different cultural layers that exist between each group, is going to be really important to me,” Lee said.

His experiences have already helped him through difficult conversations with more conservative Asian residents during his campaign, he said, especially on topics like affirmative action and the failed ballot measure Proposition 16.

Many voters were open to frank discussions about these subjects, he said, partly because they saw how different his political views were despite coming from the same cultural background.

“That is where there is the intersection for growth,” Lee said.

Not everyone has been so open. Lee said he’s faced homophobia on the campaign trail, with some in the AAPI community who said if he were their child, they would have disowned him.

“It is … sometimes jarring, to think that someone who has the complete, same cultural background can arrive at a different political view and political lifestyle,” Lee said. “We will have very difficult … and heart wrenching conversations in our community, but I think it’s necessary. And I’m willing to stick my neck out with organizers to work on that.”

He’s also hoping to have more tough conversations about the role of race in America, to explain how racism divides the AAPI community against other people of color and against itself. Contrary to the model minority stereotype, Lee said, even those in San Jose who can afford things like large houses, nice cars and private tutoring are not immune from anti-Asian racism, something that’s become more apparent during the pandemic.

“There are people that want privilege, not equality,” Lee said. “It only makes all of us safer, Asian Americans of every background … if we completely root out racism in our institutions and really educate people that way.”

Growing AAPI political engagement

The first move once Lee takes office in December, he said, will be to introduce legislation aimed at curbing special interest money in state politics. The more influence corporations can have on the democratic process, Lee said, the less faith voters — including the AAPI community — will have in the political system.

“I hear from a lot of people, old or young Asian Americans, who are like, ‘What’s the point of voting? It doesn’t change anything,’” Lee said.

Part of building up public trust and engagement in the political system includes creating more support and pathways for people of color and a wider range of backgrounds to get into public office, Lee said. Without the professional network of Capitol connections many others had, he said, he struggled to find an entry-level job in the Legislature after graduation.

The Capitol has a notoriously insulated culture and employment pipeline, Lee said, and its inaccessibility to young AAPI people looking to go into politics has left many feeling “adrift.” He’s glad to see more AAPI legislators now, he said, but pointed to the lack of APIs occupying higher offices like chief of staff or legislative director.

“That’s going to definitely be one of my main priorities in office, is to really uplift people of color, especially Asian Americans,” Lee said. “I am intending … to hire Asian American women, definitely, into our office.”

During his campaign, Lee said, he often felt the odds were stacked against him and his path to the state Assembly felt at times scary, uncertain and unpaved. So for any young Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders looking to get into public office, Lee said, he leaves them with this advice.

“You’ll know when you’re ready,” Lee said. “There will be a lot of people who are gatekeepers to you who will say, ‘You’re not ready, you’re too young, you’re too Asian, you’re too queer.’ Whatever it is … don’t let other people’s doubts become your own.”

This story was originally published November 11, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Asian American man just became California’s youngest and first openly bisexual legislator."