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EK: And just on the note of being part of the community, speaking out for this community, and also being a Japanese American, I know that you just went over this briefly, but if you don't mind going more in depth about the intersectionality between those two. So as a Japanese American, and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, how has this intersectionality of identities shaped you as the individual? And I know you don't like to say activist for the LGBTQIA community, but just as an individual who is an ally and promotes these rights, just how this intersectionality has shaped you as an individual and the work that you've done today.

BT: I think the intersectionality is basically making everybody aware that there are no, there are no -- this isn't like a Venn diagram where you have completely different circles that never intersect. And the whole thing about our society is, when you talk about one person, you're talking about everybody sooner or later, okay. And so just because you're an Asian American doesn't mean that you're not gay, or you cannot be gay, and that these are separate communities. And in fact, what communities do is, do intersect, and there's a lot of commonalities and there are differences. But one thing is when it comes to discrimination, and things like that, there's a lot of intersections, and the basis is the same. And then therefore, the work that you have to do becomes the same.

One thing that I've become more vocal about is just telling, for example, my coming out story, okay. And part of that is because it was like, I didn't think anything about my story was anything more different than anybody else's. And yet, I realized that if I think about my past, and I think about all the trauma that I had, hidden, even though I was relatively happy, all the trauma that I had hidden growing up, and, with my peers, and in high school and college, and even at work  and then trying to deal with my first partner's dying from AIDS. And I started thinking, I never talk about that. I never talk about that. And then I think about my parents, and the Issei, and their experiences in the war, and I think about, they never talked about it either. But nowadays, when I listen to someone that lived through that period, it's important for me to hear what they were witness to and to understand the trauma that they had gone through. And so, again, I don't think I was anything special, but then I feel I should tell my story because, for other people, it might help. If anything else, it helps them to know that they aren't alone. And it helps them to know, especially these days, that people care, and that there are avenues to help you. So, in that light, I did a... it was probably a half hour videotaped session with a group called Okaeri down in L.A. That was the later part of the L.A. Film Festival, and then we had a panel discussion on that talking about our coming out stories. I recently did a two-part story with the North American Post that talked about my coming out. And I just learned that that was broadcast on the Nikkei network, and it's now being translated into Japanese -- which I won't be able to read -- but it's being translated into Japanese. But the part about this isn't so much my story as much as many people know that, yeah, when you talk about the LGBTQIA community, it's not so much separate from the Japanese American Asian American community because there are intersections. And so, again, nothing earth-breaking, but I feel like just as people talk about incarceration, I should talk about my story.

EK: Absolutely. Well, thank you. And just, yeah, for, I guess, intersectionality is a very important thing that I feel like a lot of individuals fail to recognize that impacts their -- themselves and the world that they live in. And so thank you for just sharing your experiences with that and your thoughts on that.

BT: I did want to add one more thing, Elaine.

EK: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.

BT: And it's, it partly is, sometimes, there was this one, I just asked this question on another part, and I forgot what it was. But when you talk about yourself, and you think about yourself, it becomes really hard to identify what part of yourself is this and what part of yourself is that. It's impossible. All you know is that -- and it's all part of you. Okay, so me being a Japanese American from the Midwest now living in Seattle and me being a gay person, it's hard for me to say, well, I feel this way because of this. But I do know that I am me because of all these experiences, and I'm happy about it.

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