Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women and Transgender Community

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Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women Transgender Community (APIQWTC) is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization in the San Francisco Bay Area that provides opportunities for Asian & Pacific Islander queer women and transgender people to socialize, network, build community, engage in inter-generational organizing, and increase community visibility.

APIQWTC grew out of the API Lunar New Year Banquet, founded in 1987 by a small group of queer and transgender Asian women. APIQWTC was officially founded in 1999 by Crystal Jang, Koko Lin, and Trinity Ordona, as a new hub for established and new community groups to exchange news and coordinate projects in the San Francisco Bay Area.^[1][2] Over time, it evolved from a network to a community organization.

In 2012, the co-founders reported that APIQWTC provides the space for an estimated 1,000 queer women and transgender individuals of Asian descent to gather and celebrate who they are.^[3] APIQWTC is a space for "many queer women and transgender Asians [who] live in the closet in fear of losing their family and community."^[3] Today, its membership boasts 800 members, possibly the largest Asian lesbian/transgender organization on the West Coast.^[4]

APIQWTC hosts the following events and activities annually: Lunar New Year Banquet;^[3] Summer Barbeque; Phoenix Award;^[5] Community Artist award; Trips; Support for community LGBT organizations; Monthly Meet-ups. Every year, APIQWTC provides two scholarship to deserving API LGBT students pursuing higher education.^[6] During the yearly banquet, an API LGBT organization is designated to receive a percentage of the annual banquet receipts to further its mission.