A newly opened museum in San Francisco's Chinatown is providing a space for Chinese LGBTQ+ artists and fostering community connections. The OUT Museum, described as the first of its kind, celebrated its opening at the end of May.
Situated across from the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum, the bilingual institution aims to give recognition to a demographic that has often felt invisible. The museum's creation comes at a time when LGBTQ+ rights are facing restrictions in various parts of the United States.
Currently operating on Saturdays, the museum is a single room featuring fewer than a dozen artworks by artists from China and the Chinese diaspora. Founder Xiangqi Chen, an artist and activist, hopes to expand the museum's exhibits and operating hours in the future. Chen launched a Kickstarter for the museum concept six years ago while still in China, attracting over 2,000 donors. She later came to the U.S. on a J-1 visa and gained attention in San Francisco through an exhibition at the Asian Art Museum, which led to a residency with the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco. The center served as an incubating space for the museum's prototype.
The museum's inaugural exhibition includes photography, zines, and an interactive installation. For Hong Kong-born artist Dixon Ngai, the museum offers a crucial outlet to share his story as mainstream media often overlooks the Chinese LGBTQ+ community. He contributed a hand-painted Chinese porcelain wine pot inspired by Cantonese opera.
Since its opening, Chen has been moved by the feedback from Chinese immigrants, both LGBTQ+ and straight, who have lived in California for decades. Visitors have shared personal stories, including a transgender man who immigrated in the 1970s seeking gender-affirming care, and a mother seeking to connect with her gay adult son. These reactions, Chen noted, demonstrate the museum's role in elevating the visibility of Chinese, Chinese American, and Asian American LGBTQ+ individuals.
Helen Zia, an author, activist, and advisory board member for the museum, stated that the institution highlights shifting attitudes within the Chinese community. She recalled instances of protests against same-sex couples in Chinatown two decades ago, contrasting them with the current presence of the museum. "See our humanity," Zia said. "Here's the beautiful art that we create and imagine and contribute to the world."
Homosexuality in China operates under restrictive policies, though it was declassified as a mental disorder in 2001. LGBTQ+ couples cannot marry or adopt, and public advocacy is limited. Chen, who previously ran a grassroots center for lesbians in Shanghai, cited increased government crackdowns on LGBTQ+ activism spaces during the pandemic as a reason for leaving China. She noted that while certain queer art exhibitions existed in China between 2013 and 2015, they could not explicitly identify as LGBTQ+-related.
Chen observed a difference between LGBTQ+ individuals in China and those born in America, with the latter group appearing more educated about gender and sexual identity and having greater access to support systems. Despite current threats to LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S. at federal and state levels, Chinese artists like Ngai expressed appreciation for the freedom and equal human rights experienced in San Francisco.
Chen plans to participate in her first San Francisco Pride Parade, using the opportunity to promote the museum. "I think completing this opening will be a start for me. It’s not the end," Chen said. "We still have a long way to go."