"It's HMoob and Queer, Not HMoob Versus Queer": Queer and Trans HMoob Youth Contesting and Resisting Homonationalist Imperialism

• In Event: Vice-Presidential Session. Connecting Home(lands): Continuing Legacies of Pacific Islander and Asian Anti-Imperialism Across Oceans

Abstract

For this project, I examine white cis-hetero-patriarchal discourses about HMoob gender and sexuality in the United States; many of these narratives are influenced by the HMoob people soldiering for the U.S. These violent imperialistic acts pathologize HMoob men as hypermasculine agressors while framing HMoob women and queer and trans (QT) folks as passive victims in an attempt to position the U.S. government and military as “saviors.” I then put these in dialogues with how three QT HMoob youth view themselves and understand constructs of HMoob gender and sexuality in the hopes of disrupting deficit discourses.

The theoretical framework for this project is History on the Run, which interrogates the ways white supremacy and its canon for the written word as “official” documents is weaponized by the United States government and military to silence and control the HMoob community, whose language is predominantly oral (Vang, 2021). The centrality of being a stateless ethnic minority group, refugees, and Indigenous people while racialized as Asian (American) impact the way HMoob people are constructed. Centering these helps us theorize and understand HMoob epistemology and movements, especially how they combat these constructions.

Storytelling in Indigenous methodology involves co-designing questions and curiosity with those we are seeking to learn from (Tuck, 2015). To collect data, I opted not to have a structured interview and instead, constructed my questions based on the stories that my co-learners shared with me. In doing so, I engaged in one-on-one conversations with three QT HMoob youth who are still exploring what it means to be HMoob and queer.

The paper focuses on data collected through one-on-one conversations with three QT HMoob youth. The paper also examines the ways gender and sexuality among the HMoob people have been portrayed in the media, specifically through poems, films, and songs.

In dialoguing with QT HMoob youth about how they understand gender and sexuality, three themes emerged: 1) HMoob and queer culture are not mutually exclusive, 2) the view that HMoob culture is “oppressive” towards queer identities and relationships is misguided, and finally, 3) facilitating conversations to understand the changing landscape of gender and sexuality is essential for HMoob futurity. The paper further discusses how these two can build upon one another to frame future conversations.

White cis-hetero-patriarchal culture likes to assume the role of savior of “premodern” refugee women and queer and trans folks by asserting that HMoob culture is oppressive. This paper addresses that deficit in literature while challenging the misguided notion that HMoob identity and queer identity are in tension with one another. Instead, the HMoob community is actively combating these narratives through communal education, restorative actions, and collective healing.

Author

• Doua Kha, University of Washington
  Presenting Author