Saturday’s Family Pride Day – a free event full of activities, education and community – was held at the Lucena On Court apartment complex courtyard in L.A.’s Historic Filipinotown district, where they operate a well-being community center. SIPA is an LGBTQ+ and women-led nonprofit with a goal to empower the Filipino American community through health and human services, combined with arts and culture programming.
Attendees at the inaugural Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) Family Pride Day listen to a workshop on gender identity and allyship on Saturday, June 29, 2024. (Courtesy of Search to Involve Pilipino Americans)
Attendees at the inaugural Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) Family Pride Day, celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, on Saturday, June 29, 2024. (Courtesy of Search to Involve Pilipino Americans)
Development director Hannah Kalea Enriquez tables at the inaugural Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) Family Pride Day, celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, on Saturday, June 29, 2024. (Courtesy of Search to Involve Pilipino Americans)
Members of the AAPI community participate in games and activities during SIPA’s Filipino Summer Program Family Day in 2023. (Photos courtesy of Search to Involve Pilipino Americans.)
Participants in SIPA’s Filipino Summer Program Family Day 2023 engage in a group activity outside. SIPA will be holding their Pride Family Day on June 29. (Photo courtesy of Search to Involve Pilipino Americans)
With discussions on parenting and gender allyship, resources from community organizations, fun games and interactive workshops, the day brought together LGBTQ+ youth and their families to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander pride during June’s LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
The day’s activities began with opening remarks from Danilo “Danny” Cortez, a co-pastor at Long Beach Christian Fellowship and the director of nonprofit Estuary Space, which helps churches, families and individuals navigate gender and sexuality through faith.
Gender and sexuality “isn’t (typically) a topic that is discussed in Filipino communities,” according to SIPA organizers. When a child comes out to their parents, they often have many questions.
Alongside Family Pride Day, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans offers a “Parenting Our LGBTQ+ Children” program, which examines social, ethnic, psychological and spiritual issues in LGBTQ+ children, build community with others, and promotes healthy relationships between parents and queer children.
