In Hollywood, Asian American stories are rare, but Asian American LGBTQ stories are even rarer

In 2019, GLAAD found that representation for LGBTQ people in films tended to be minimal, with most characters getting less than three minutes of screen time.“This is actually a structural issue of heterosexism,” Leong said, adding that the lack of Asian LGBTQ films and roles reflects “the ongoing structural ways that Hollywood is organized to favor young males — and those males are assumed to be cis, hetero, white and affluent.”Hollywood’s conservatism when it comes to queer stories along with the lack of knowledge about Asian American and Pacific Islander communities also results in a sense of doubt that there is an audience for stories about queer Asian Americans who grew up in the West.“Because we’re still seen as perpetual foreigners, there's this assumption that Asian Americans are still going to be more interested in watching something like a Korean drama over something American starring Asian Americans,” Leong said.Filmmakers also have to contend with the belief that many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are devoutly religious and therefore reluctant to buy tickets or otherwise support a film with an LGBTQ storyline.“Of course there are some people who are going to be offended, but we don't seem to really mind doing that when it comes to white Christian LGBT narratives or narratives involving all these other religions,” Mirza said.