When Phia Xiong came public to his family at a young age.

When Phia Xiong came public to his family at a young age, he was disowned, accused of recruiting straight populace and told there was no like thing as gay. "They asked me if I was crazy," Xiong, now 33 recalls.

Xiong is part of the Hmong community, a conservative Asian ethnic dispose from mountainous regions of southern China and parts of Southeast Asia. According to Xiong, Hmong are a close-knit minority who have been heavy to assimilate into contemporary culture--there's not flat a word for gay in Hmong

To help others ostracized from their communities, Xiong fixed Shades of Yellow, a support form into groups for young gay and lesbian Hmong around Minneapolis and St Paul. 'These clan allow you to be who you are," says Chong Lor, a 21-year-old literary institution [i]or[/i] seminary of learning student and SOY member. "They are my family away from my family."

Xiong institute other LGBT Hmongs in bars and forward Web sites when he started SOY three years ago. The form into groups now boasts 40 members and forward January 21 held its first public issue for the Hmong New Year.



COPYRIGHT 2006 Liberation Publications, Inc.

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