Teaching Justice and Living Peace: Body, Sexuality and Religious Education in Asian-American Communities

In Asian-American communities, religious education for justice and peace is often framed by the discussion of racial and ethnic identity. Since racism is a serious social problem in the United States, it is important for Asian-Americans to continue to participate in racial justice movements and discussions of identity politics. Upholding the important works that AsianAmericans have produced, this paper argues that Asian-American religious education should include discussion about sexuality and sexual identity, in connection with ethnic identity thus to squarely address social justice. In most Asian-American cultures, sexuality is a taboo subject, one that cannot be discussed in public except for discussion about procreation. For example, although AsianAmericans have inseparable ethnic and sexual identities within themselves, they are forced to separate the two and to focus solely on their cultural Asianness (Leong, 3-5). Such invisibility of sexuality also contributes to the creation of homophobia in heterosexual-centered AsianAmerican communities, and marginalizes sexual minorities. Like heterosexual Asian-Americans, sexual minorities are discriminated against due to their Asian race in a racially hierarchical society, including those of LGBTQ communities; however and unlike their counterparts, they face homophobia too. Thus Asian-American sexual minorities are treated as the “other” by both the racial/ethnic Other and the sexual Other (Leong, 3). Therefore, without addressing the subject of sexuality, the discussion and movement of peace and justice is plainly incomplete. This paper examines sexuality in Asian-American faith communities. Specifically, it studies the influence of Confucian notions of the body on sexuality and homophobia. I first describe the current discussion of sexuality in Asian-American communities by utilizing resources of Asian-American LGBTQ support groups, such as API Family Pride of San Francisco and other Asian-American studies literature. Then I critically analyze the Confucian notion of the body that has shaped the subject of Asian-American sexuality, including Christian views. I then focus on demystification of the body, arguing that demystification is fundamental to East Asian-American discussions about sexuality. Finally, I suggest pedagogical strategies for the teaching of sex, body, and sexuality in Asian-American contexts.