New Book ‘Brown and Gay in LA’ Highlights Experiences of Gay Filipino and Latino Men From Immigrant Families

By Susan Payne

Author Anthony Ocampo began writing his new book after the 2016 tragic shooting at the nightclub Pulse in Orlando.

“Brown and Gay in LA” is the story of Filipino Americans and Latinos experiences, including his own, coming from a family of immigrants.

“That event just really hit me pretty hard because a lot of the young men that I interviewed came of age in these kinds of places of queer Latinx or queer POC bars and clubs,” he said. “Myself included.”

Although he started writing this book 10 years ago, Ocampo, a college professor, was prompted by the shooting to change its direction.

“It kind of stopped me in my tracks,” he said. “It just felt like the version of the book that I had at that point was too academic. And so I did a little soul-searching after the Pulse shooting and I felt like I had to write the book in a completely different way with a sense of urgency.”

Although gay marriage became legal, and most people believed that meant everything

Models Of Pride,

From page 1 at the 2022 Seattle Pridefest; drag performer Dew Mi Moore; The Realm Company, an upand-coming LGBTQ+ dance group from West Hollywood; West Hollywood drag queen Jada Slayy; ally and supporter Mike Xavier; and more.

“Models of Pride was started 30 years ago by a group of Los Angeles teachers who knew LGBTQ+ youth needed a place to build community, hear from role models, and develop their sense of self,” said the Center’s Director of Youth Community-Based Programs Kevin was fine, Ocampo said he wanted his writing to capture gay men had lived lies with extremely difficulties among their families, communities and schools long before that.

“For me, it was really important to really chronicle all the labor that goes into just plain existing because I felt like people were forgetting how hard it is to navigate those two identities,” he said.

Ocampo explores masculinity learned at a young age and dealing with pressure to excel in academics.

One of the main goals of his book, Ocampo wrote, is to “bridge scholarly and public conversations about race, immigration and LGBTQ issues.”

Ocampo decided his expertise in the field as he pursued his doctorate degree would be in immigration and race and said that these conversations around immigration and race rarely included the experiences of queer immigrants or queer children of immigrants.

Ocampo said the men featured in his new book are redefining what it means to be a man, gay and American.

McCloskey. “We’ve made great progress in 30 years, but as long as youth still experience rejection from families, bullying at school, and the effects of homophobia and transphobia, the Center will continue producing this incredible and life-affirming conference.”

“Amazon is incredibly proud of its ongoing support of the Center and the thousands of Angelenos it serves,” said Glamazon Los Angeles Chapter President Michael Dawson.

“There is no better way to demonstrate our commitment to the community and LGBTQ+ youth then to bring Amazon employees together for Models of Pride with the Center. This work is at the core of what Glamazon stands for.”

Some of the workshops offered this year included: Coming Out in a Family of Color (how to navigate specific cultural considerations while sharing your identity with your family); Where Do You Fit In? (a guide to exploring the LGBTQ+ community’s subcultures to find your chosen community); The Power of Leadership (an introduction to the power of youth-led activism; and Dream Yourself Awake (how to effectively work with your dreams and messages from your subconscious to yield amazing results). Social Media influencer Brendan Jordan also hosted a workshop discussing his journey and sharing tips on the art of authentic content creation. Carnival games included a mechanical unicorn ride, an 85-foot boot camp obstacle course, a money-blowing vault, skee ball, giant darts, ring toss, and more.

In addition to the youth-only portions of the single-day festival, parents, caregivers, educators, social service providers, and other youth-serving professionals are offered free workshops tailored to their roles and interests to better serve LGBTQ+ youth. Known as the Parent & Professional Institute (PPI), this programming for adults provides them with their own set of tailored workshops, discussions, and resources.