Russell Leong is the editor of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center's Amerasia Journal. He edited Moving theImage: Independent Asian Pacific Media Arts (1991), and is the author of The Country of Dreams and Dust (1993), recipient of the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Literature Award.

"Editor Russell Leong has managed to weave a diverse and thoughtful selection of pieces--personal essays, articles of literary and film criticism, roundtable discussions, and works of fiction and poetry--into a provocative exploration of personal experience and the construction of Asian American gay and lesbian identity...a valuable contribution in the fields of both queer cultural studies and Asian American studies... This book is the first of its kind, and for that alone it is noteworthy. The diverse approaches, good writing, and the inclusion of both lesbian and gay experience, however, make this a fascinating and informative read as well." -- LesbianReview of Books"In all respects the anthology is informative, carving out an Asian American gay and lesbian culture and community that has been active and that will no longer be silenced either by racism or homophobia. While there are anthologies of Asian American gay experiences that precede this one, this is the first to deal with both gay and lesbian experiences." -- Pacific Reader

• Introduction, Russell Leong; Part I Home Bodies; Chapter 1 Maiden Voyage, Dana Y. Takagi; Chapter 2 Stories from the Homefront, Alice Y. Hom; Chapter 3 Searching for Community, Martin F. ManalansanIV; Chapter 4 Breaking through the Chrysalis, Erica L. H. Lee; Chapter 5 Preserving the Paradox, Eric C. Wat; Part II The Body Politic; Chapter 6 Living in Asian America, Michiyo Cornell; Chapter 7 Strategies for Queer Asian and Pacific Islander Spaces, Eric Estuar Reyes; Chapter 8 In Our Own Way, Cristy Chung, Aly Kim, Zoon Nguyen, Trinity Ordona, Arlene Stein; Chapter 9 From the 1970s to the 1990s, Gil Mangaoang; Chapter 10 Same-Sex Sexuality in Pacific Literature, Lisa Kahaleole Chang Hall, J. Kehaulani Kauanui; Chapter 11 ::, Gayatri Gopinath; Part III Figuring Desire; Chapter 12 In the Shadows of a Diva, David L. Eng; Chapter 13 Notes on Queer ’N’ Asian Virtual Sex, Daniel C. Tsang; Chapter 14 Toward a Struggle against Invisibility, Took Took Thongthiraj; Chapter 15 Gregg Araki and the Queer New Wave, Kimberly Yutani; Chapter 16 Looking for My Penis, Richard Fung; Part IV Bloodlines; Chapter 17 Communion, Ric Parish, James Sakakura, Brian Green, Joël B. Tan, Robert Vázquez Pacheco; partV A Tongue in Your Ear; Chapter 18 My Grandmother’s Third Eye, Thelma Seto; Chapter 19 Bak Sze, White Snake, Kitty Tsui; Chapter 20 Tita Aida, R. Zamora Linmark; Chapter 21 River Deep, Elsa E’der; Chapter 22 Grandma’s Tales, Andrew Lam; Chapter 23 Queer Pilipino Rebolusiyon, Joël B. Tan; Chapter 24 Fascination, Gravity, and a Deeply Done Kiss, Lisa Asagi; Chapter 25 Aloes, Russell Leong;