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EK: And so I guess, another -- might be another broad, heavy question. But you are a powerhouse and a voice for many communities, especially for the LGBTQIA+ community. And a key moment in your work for progressing these rights was speaking out and sharing your experiences as a gay Boy Scout in the 2003 JACL National Convention regarding a resolution that would protest the Boy Scouts' decision to exclude scouts who are gay are a part of the LGBTQIA community. So what did this moment mean for you? And why do you find it so important in moments such as these to speak out or break the silence? And you touched upon this, but if you had any other thoughts in regards to that question, please go for it.

BT: Yeah, that was kind of an interesting part because, again, like I said, I don't consider myself an LGBT activist or anything like this. And at that point, even though that was about twenty years ago, our society, it's progressed, and the thing about being out or being closeted, it's... you have to imagine the situation back then. And it was kind of like... I had told Arlene that I was -- Arlene Oki, who was our president -- that I was gay and we were talking about it. And then I go to the convention as an alternate and they're having a discussion about... another chapter had presented a resolution to condemn the Boy Scouts for threatening to kick out gay people, gay members, Boy Scouts.. And Arlene said, "Bill, you might want to speak to this." And so I said, "Oh, sure." So, I said, "I have no problem." And so I got up and I remember talking about it, and I said, I introduced myself because I don't think a lot of people knew me, I said, "My name is Bill Tashima. I am a longtime JACLer, I joined in the '60s, I am on the board for the Seattle JACL. I was a Boy Scout. I was a Cub Scout, Boy Scout Explorer." And then I said, "And I'm gay." I said, "The Boy Scouts is a great organization, but this is just the wrong message to send, anytime you discriminate against it." I said, "It's worse than that. I treasure my time with the Boy Scouts. I learned so much. I have lasting friends," and I just looked at everybody and I said, "Think about those times when you're growing up and adolescence, trying to fit in, find the group that you love, and all of a sudden, being ostracized, being called names, and being kicked out by a group that, that you just want to devote your life to." and I looked at everybody and I said, " You know how it is to be called a name, don't you? For something that you have no control over? Is this what we want to be doing?" and I said something to the effect that, "So, the Boy Scouts is a good organization, but they're wrong on this and that's why we have to vote for this resolution." And I remember a lot of silence because this... even twenty years ago was like, maybe people thought there weren't any gay JACLers, I don't know. [Laughs] And I started walking back and my friend, who was a delegate from Cleveland, came up and he said, "Bill, I had no idea." [Laughs] And then I come back and Arlene is crying and I said, "Arlene, what's wrong?" and she's just, "Bill, I just wanted you to talk about the resolution, I didn't want you to come out." [Laughs] And I laughed, I said, "Arlene, its fine." And it saved me a lot of individual one on one talks. [Laughs] But anyway, the bottom line was, again, I think, I don't think what I did was all that special, but what I tried to do is, was bring it down to a one on one level, bringing it down, not talking about rights as much as personal and how we all fit in to this type, and we can all relate.

So, the other part that I think I was... One part I really enjoyed was working on the R-74 campaign. And that was to bring freedom of marriage to Washington and our board has been on Freedom to Marry way back even before national JACL. And this was back in 1991. And Seattle JACL is on record for that. And so this was not a surprise. And we've always endorsed every move and, when the time came, I was able to be on the People of Color campaign for R-74 which enabled me to really speak out. And I spoke, I remember going into South Seattle Central College, being on TV, I wanted to... civic, civic club or something on a debate. And most of... I got to introduce George Takei at a big fundraiser for R-74. But I liked that, because I was able to make the intersection between being gay and being Japanese American very, very clearly. And I remember one thing I used to like to say, and when I talked about this, I would tell them the story about Japanese Americans. And I would say for a long time my grandparents weren't able to buy land, or become citizens. And, in 1950, they found out that they could become citizens and they could buy land. I said my dad was incarcerated and he lived long enough to see an apology being sent by the government. And then I said if R-74 passes, then for the first time, I will feel like a complete citizen because I will be able to do everything else anybody else can, including marrying the person that I love. And I just remember being so happy when that passed, and being able to speak at the victory celebration at the Westin Hotel in Seattle. And it wasn't just Washington, if anybody remembers. It swept four states, Maine, Minnesota, Maryland, and Washington. And, at that time, it's almost like a wall had come tumbling down in our country. And then to think about the progress since moving on from gay marriage and gay adoption now to be transgender rights, it's a remarkable quantum leap. Now granted, there's a lot of work that needs to be done here, but I don't think people would have thought about that fifteen years ago. Again, I am not a powerhouse person, but I am happy that I was able to do what I could do.

EK: I mean, any action amounts to... it's always action over nothing.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2022 Seattle Chapter JACL. All Rights Reserved.