FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 15, 2021
Media Contact:
Peter-Astrid Kane (they/them)
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Pride and the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco (CCC) are pleased to announce Chinatown Pride, an hour-long online fundraiser for both organizations and a gesture of solidarity between historically marginalized communities that have never collaborated on an event of this scale before.
On Thursday, March 25, 6-7 p.m., viewers will experience Chinatown’s remarkable history through a fresh lens. A combination drag show, video compilation, and tour of neighborhood landmarks, Chinatown Pride builds upon an existing project called Women: From Her to Here that CCC has installed in their gallery space inside the Hilton Hotel in Chinatown. A multimedia exhibition centered on Asian diasporic perspectives, with work by female and LGBTQ+ artists from the Bay Area, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and elsewhere, Women: From Her to Here is the ideal launching-off point for an event that showcases the LGBTQ+ culture of Chinatown.
Chinatown Pride will take viewers to such landmarks as the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company and Forbidden City, with segments highlighting the work of artists and writers such as Chelsea Wong, Arthur Dong, Tina Takemoto, and Heesoo Kwon, and culminating in a drag performance by Pearl Teese shot by queer Latinx filmmaker Stephen Quinones on the pedestrian bridge connecting Portsmouth Square to the Hilton Hotel.
More than 50 years into the Pride movement, this is a long-overdue opportunity not merely for artistic collaboration but also to draw parallels between the respective histories of Chinese Americans and LGBTQ+ individuals in San Francisco, while highlighting the incredible contributions of LGBTQ+ Asian Americans such as the groundbreaking artist Bernice Bing to our city.
“We are so excited to collaborate in Chinatown for what we think is the first time for a queer event like this,” says SF Pride Executive Director Fred Lopez. “Chinatown Pride fulfills plans made in early 2020 that COVID derailed for more than a year. While the pandemic has been hard for everyone, our two communities have been particularly impacted. And now, many AAPI communities have been further upset by racist attacks and violence. Now is the time for joy and art in the face of adversity and pain."
“I’m very excited that we’re partnering with a women-led nonprofit during Women’s History Month,” says SF Pride Board President Carolyn Wysinger. “CCC’s Executive Director Jenny Leung and curator Hoi Leung have had incredible vision throughout this process. And I’m especially thankful to former SF Pride Board member and Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University Amy Sueyoshi for opening the initial conversation with them last year.”
“Chinatown Pride is about bringing visibility to and uplifting Chinatown,” says CCC Executive Director Jenny Leung. “CCC is so thrilled to collaborate with SF Pride to celebrate LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and immigrant communities. We want to welcome and invite everyone to come to Chinatown — to show Pride, love and take a stand against hate and racism. Especially now, it’s so important to build safe and inclusive spaces for a just future.”
Safe Spaces & Queer Stories in Chinatown include
Bernice Bing, presented by Lenore Chinn
Forbidden City
Li Po Lounge
Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory
Performance & Artwork By
Pearl Teese
Tina Takemoto
Heesoo Kwon
Brandon Jew
Chelsea Wong
Sponsored By
Wesley Tongson Charitable Trust
Mister Jiu's
Ugly Pickle Co.
Crystal Head Vodka
Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory
CCC Design Store
Bargain Bazaar
Vivi + Livy
Promotional artwork
Cyan Chang
Chinatown Pride
Thursday, March 25, 6-7 p.m.
Interviews available upon request with
Jenny Leung, CCC Executive Director
Fred Lopez, SF Pride Executive Director
Carolyn Wysinger, SF Pride Board President
Pearl Teese, drag performer
Stephen Quinones, filmmaker
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