GAPA

I had the chance to speak with @terisasiagatonu (she/they) at the NQAPIA West Coast Convening Community Reception about hope, community, and collective power. One reminder that stayed with me: queer and trans people exist everywhere, and we always find our way back to each other. In a world that tries to divide us, there is still so much power in community, connection, and bringing our gifts together. We are stronger together than apart. 🤍 Happy Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Love you sis, Terisa! I know we will be doing more queer and trans magick together!

GAPA Hosts QTAPI Art Exhibit! GAPA, GAPA Fund, Sentro Filipino, and Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center invite you to our group art exhibition, Holding (Queer) Space, running from May 29 to July 10, 2026. Join us at our Opening Night Reception on Friday, May 29th, 6-8-30pm! You’ll get to enjoy fabulous artwork, meet the artists, partake in tasty bites, and engage with community. PARTICIPATING ARTISTS: Angel Angeles (AKA Tito Bong) @aries_i_am Pablo Tapay Bautista Leonila Mims @luminouss.leo Ngoc Nguyen @ngocnguyen_art Jethro Patalinghug @jethroarts_ Henry Roark henry.midi Elina Tanaka @tanaka.jpeg Coy Viana @coyspice Jun Yang @junyarts Fiona Yim @neverfinley Exhibition Statement: Showcasing the works of Queer and Trans Asian and Pacific Islander (QTAPI) artists, Holding (Queer) Space invites us to reflect on our relationships with each other as QTAPI in the diaspora by exploring what it means to take up space and practice placemaking for others. Whether it’s found within, among chosen family, or in the community-at-large, featured artists celebrate modes of thinking about connection through shared experiences and histories, underscoring how QTAPI solidarity can cultivate placemaking and belonging. By sharing our perspectives, we create common ground where people can come together across generations, cultures, and identities. These acts of visibility foster pride, reduce isolation, and affirm that our lives and experiences matter. @gapasf @thegapafund @sentro_filipino @apicc_sf #queerarts #queerartist #qtapi #queerapi #queerasian

@nqapia ’s Community Reception is something I will always look forward to. Beyond the amazing food and community, it’s a chance for us to come down from the intensity of workshops and organizing and just enjoy each other’s company and vibes. If you are AA and/or NHPI and LGBTQIA+, get connected with NQAPIA. They are organizing across state lines to get all of us resourced and connected. One way they are doing that right now is through the Let Them Lead the Way mini grant. Follow them and let’s keep building our network across Turtle Island.

Beginning at 6:00PM on May 29th, help us welcome Sentro Filipino’s first Exhibition of 2026. Awarded our Exhibition Grant, GAPA transforms our Rizal Hall with works by Queer and Trans Asian and Pacific Islander (QTAPI) artists. This Opening Reception will be a momentous one that celebrates both the continuation of our Exhibition Grant Program and an ushering in of June’s Pride Month. Holding (Queer) Space invites us to reflect on our relationships with each other as QTAPI in the diaspora by exploring what it means to take up space and practice placemaking for others. Whether it’s found within, among chosen family, or in the community-at-large, featured artists celebrate modes of thinking about connection through shared experiences and histories, underscoring how QTAPI solidarity can cultivate placemaking and belonging. By sharing our perspectives, we create common ground where people can come together across generations, cultures, and identities. These acts of visibility foster pride, reduce isolation, and affirm that our lives and experiences matter. - The GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance (GAPA) was founded in 1988 as a space for Queer and Trans Asians and Pacific Islanders (QTAPI) to come together, claim visibility, and create community. The GAPA Fund was founded in 2019 as a 501c(3) charitable institution to complement the seminal work that GAPA has done in its more than 35 years of existence. We provide arts and cultural programs that foster the empowerment and advancement of QTAPI communities. From the beginning, we have understood that the arts are not just expressions of identity, but acts of survival and resistance—ways to gather, to heal, and to imagine what liberation can look like. Our values are rooted in the belief that art is both healing and connective. We see artistic expression as a form of community care, by challenging the erasure and stereotypes faced by QTAPI communities and expanding what representation can mean for us. - Names of Artists involved: Angelica Angeles, Pablo Tapay Bautista, Leonila Mims, Ngoc Nguyen, Jethro Patalinghug, Henry Roark, Elina Tanaka, Coy Viana, Victoria, Jun Yang, Fiona Yim

Dear Community, This is your advance notice to this year’s Queer & Transgender Asian & Pacific Islander (QTAPI) Block Party presented to you by yours truly, GAPA Fund, San Francisco OEWD, and Artyhood! We are coming together, joyful and hopeful as we reinvent refuge through our diversity and resilience as community! Expect amazing performances and fabulous resource fair. Stay tuned for more exciting details! Grahic Design by @venazir_

This week, the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (@nqapia ) held its West Coast Convening after a long hiatus. What that meant was our hearts were full, our notes app was filled with amazing lessons from the workshops, and we had zero social battery left! 🤭 From Seattle to Utah, DC to the Pasifika region, and finally here in San Francisco, people showed up with their Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander stories, bringing smiles and joy to all attendees. It was a beautiful reminder that, alone, we know so little. Still, together, as a diverse collective, as immigrants, and as queer and transgender people, we carry so much knowledge and power to offer to make this world a better place.

Thank you again for your continued attention to this urgent matter. We hope to see you in the Bay on April 22-23 for the West Coast Regional Convening, now that the facts are fully laid out. 😏

The stage is set for our West Coast Community Reception: Performance Showcase, featuring a lineup of Bay Area artists whose work moves across drag, dance, poetry, and music. This is a space where queer and trans AANHPI artists take up the stage on their own terms, bringing together performance, storytelling, and community. Featuring Mocha Fapalatte, Hennessy Williams, Redd FaFilth, Terisa Siagatonu, Steven Cong, the Rice Rockettes (Chai Auntea & Sushi Rollita) and GAPA Dance Collective Hosted by Mx. Kiki Krunch and our very own Executive Director Kat Evasco April 24 · 6:30–9:30 PM · San Francisco RSVP at the link in bio or below to receive location: bit.ly/nqapiacommunity26wc Come be in the room where it happens

Call for Queer and Transgender Asian and Pacific Islander (QTAPI) Storytellers! GAPA Theatre invites Queer and Transgender Asian and Pacific Islander (QTAPI) storytellers to join our 2026 Spring Cohort. APPLICATION DUE: FRIDAY, MARCH 27TH, 3PM Application link in bio. We are seeking QTAPI community members who are ready to explore and share stories rooted in their own lived experience—stories of finding community, building community, and showing up for one for community.   Through a collaborative, workshop-based process, participants will develop original solo performance and spoken word pieces. These works will be presented in a GAPA Theatre production on June 6, as part of 2026 QTAPI Week celebrations and the United States of Asian American Festival, presented by the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center.   No prior writing or performance experience is required. We welcome anyone with a desire to tell their story, engage in collective creative process, and support fellow cohort members in a space grounded in trust, care, and artistic growth.   Production and Theme: As One Community + Care + Resilience A collection of original performances by Queer and Transgender Asian and Pacific Islander (QTAPI) artists, As One uplifts stories of community—discovering community, building community, and showing up for one another. These works reflect the care and resilience that sustain and connect us. Presented as part of the 2026 QTAPI Week celebrations and the United States of Asian American Festival, presented by the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center. 30-minute informational Zoom call, Saturday March 21, 7PM Zoom link in bio. Questions? Contact: [email protected]

We’re proud to announce @gapasf as an Anchor Partner for NQAPIA’s 2026 West Coast Regional Convening. As an anchor partner, GAPA is helping co-shape the vision, outreach, and on-the-ground execution of this gathering—bringing together LGBTQ+ AANHPI leaders across the region for strategy, skill-building, and collective power building. Be part of it — register for the West Coast Convening and our Bay Area Community Reception at the links in our bio!

Photos from our Lunar New Year celebration with @gapasf ! 📸 by @estefancy

✨ A night of culture, pride, and powerful performances 🌙🐉 Honored to capture moments from @gapasf GAPASF’s Queer Lunar New Year celebration — a space filled with energy, talent, and community. Every act brought something unforgettable: 💃 GAPA Dance Collective 🎤 GAPA Men’s Chorus @gapachorus 🌺 Nā Lei Hulu i ka Wēkiu @naleihulu 👑 Mabuhay Bitches @mabuhay.bitches 🎶 Masala Mahal @the.masala.mahal ✨ Rice Rockettes @ricerockettes 💥 Royales @royalesdragshow 🕺 SGI Dance Collective @sgidancecollective And special performances from: 👑 Mx GAPA 2025 – The Indigo Menace @theindigomenace 👑 Miss GAPA 2025 – Quinn Amann Krunch @quinn.amann 👑 Mr. GAPA 2025 – Seika Ryu @seika_ryu Awardees: 🏆 Godzy Award - Jethro Patalinghug @virginia_please 🏆 George Choy Award - Connie Chan @connie_chan_sf 🏆 Donald Masuda Vanguard Award - Patrick Makyakāne @patrickmakuakane Grateful to document spaces that celebrate identity, artistry, and community at this level 🙏 📸 @gardnerkc / @kc.visualssf 📸 If you’re hosting events, performances, or community gatherings — I’d love to work with you. DM me for bookings & inquiries. #EventPhotography #SFEvents #GAPASF #QueerEvents #SanFranciscoPhotographer