'You’ll often see profiles on Grindr specifically looking for Asian men who are 'smooth', 'slim' and 'femme' - fetishising East Asian features and body types - and this also plays out in clubs and in nightlife spaces.'Īs well as being fetishised, there’s also a risk of femmes feeling excluded from the queer mainstream. 'ESEA queer folks, especially femmes, are often fetishised by white gay men,” says Lam. Geisha face paint, samurai swords and kimonos will not be welcome in this space GGI is also a place where people can party without worrying about being fetishised. This applies especially to white allies.' It reads: 'Chopsticks in hair, geisha face paint, samurai swords and kimonos or cheongsams worn out of context are an example of reducing culture to a stereotype and will not be welcome in this space. 'Nights run by non-ESEA folks which are themed around ESEA culture usually inadvertently resort to orientalist stereotypes,' says Lam, 'by asking people to wear kimonos, or encouraging guests to come in asian costumes.” As he explains, GGI has a specific policy around dress, and it’s crystal clear that using Asian cultures as a costume is not acceptable. Photograph: Riccardo Banfi Chooc Ly, who will be doing a DJ set on the nightīut more importantly, as Lam says, 'It’s about feeling safe, and like feeling you can celebrate your culture without being fetishized.' So what can you expect? According to Lam, GGI is an arty, fun night of 'house music, techno, gabba and industrial punk' with film screenings by ESEA artists, a performance by Zah, and DJ sets by Chooc Ly, Ms.
'The times we’ve come together as a community have often been hard and sometimes depressing, so I really wanted to create a joyful space for our community.' 'It's been quite an intense year and a half for East and South-East Asian people because of the Atlanta shootings and all of the Covid racism,' he says. He’s getting ready to kick off GGI, London’s only night for queer East and South East Asian (ESEA) people, and as he explains, it couldn’t come at a more essential time. 'What's exciting about this is that it's an experiment in creating something that doesn't really exist anywhere else,' says artist and nightlife organiser June Lam.