Representation matters.....
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I really appreciate messy stories about gay people of color, especially when the majority of counterculture literature or imagery in the West chronicles white people. I remember reading Buddha of Suburbia and Crying in Hmart in high school and feeling liberated and inspired by their aimless drug and sex-addled alternative queer Asian lives. Even though I would never wish distress upon anyone like the kind Habib and Ali had to suffer at the hands of their own families, I think it's necessary to see these flawed immigrants be flawed or sexual or complicated, see them make bad choices and lead non-traditional lives but still be considered worthy. I myself need to know and see that it's possible to fuck up and still end up okay... I think we know by now that representation is not enough but it's still very valuable for people who need some help imagining the possibilities...