Let’s talk about the F word. No, I’m not referring to the one you might be thinking of. I’m talking about the derogatory word for gay men that seems to be thrown around by our generation freely and without thinking of the deep significance its use means.  The first time the F word was used to describe a homosexual man was in 1914, in the United States. Now, it is a staple of homophobic accusation.

In second grade, I had a realization. I had been mistaken for four other Asian girls who looked nothing like me for the whole year. Two of them had glasses. I didn’t. Another had short hair. I didn’t. At that point I realized what it meant to be Asian in America. I was basically invisible, a small figure within the mass of identical Asians.