WESTMINSTER – Holding signs that proclaimed “Gay rights are human rights,” a group of gay Vietnamese Americans and their supporters demonstrated Monday afternoon in hopes that they will be allowed to participate in this weekend’s Tet parade in Little Saigon.
Meanwhile, organizers of Sunday’s parade held an emergency meeting Monday night to discuss what to do.
“We have to weigh the interests of the community with the interests of the group,” said Ha Son Tran, vice president of the Vietnamese American Federation of Southern California, the group helping to put on the parade. “We respect their choice, but we want to promote our Vietnamese traditions.”
Natalie Newton, who organized the demonstration, said members of the Partnership of Viet Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Organizations and their attorneys met with leaders of the committee organizing the parade for about an hour and a half earlier in the day.
Organizers suggested to the LGBT representatives that they host their own parade on the same day but not be a part of the greater event, which annually draws about 10,000 people.
“They said that if we participate, other groups will pull out,” said Tuan Trong Le, a Rowland Heights resident and co-founder of the Gay Vietnamese Alliance.
“They deny our human rights, which they’ve been fighting for all these years. What about us? We’re not humans?” Le said, as supporters held a giant rainbow banner.
The parade traditionally has been put on by the city. But this year, facing financial difficulties, Westminster turned over the reins of the parade to a community coalition.
That coalition includes the Vietnamese Interfaith Council in America, which called for a boycott of the parade the past three years because of gay groups’ participation.
Assistant City Attorney Christian Bettenhausen said Monday evening that he was working on a letter that would encourage parade organizers to include the LGBT group. But the city cannot force the organizers, he said, because it is not running the event.
Steven Gonzalez and Luan Tran, attorneys for the LGBT group, said they hope to resolve the issue without going to court. But if necessary, they will file suit, they said.
Mayor Tri Ta, the city’s first elected Vietnamese American mayor, said officials are hoping to “find a good solution for everyone.”
“We support everyone,” Ta said. “We want everyone to participate.”
Among the 30 or so supporters demonstrating Monday was Huntington Beach Councilman Joe Shaw, an openly gay councilman. “In this day and age, there’s no reason to exclude this group, other than sheer discrimination,” Shaw said. “They deserve to have a seat at the table.”
The group protesting outside the law office of Vietnamese American leader Neil Nguyen, who is helping to coordinate the parade, also included Kevin O’Grady, director of The Center OC, an Orange County center that provides programs, services and advocacy for the county’s LGBT community.
“It’s absurd,” O’Grady said of the possible exclusion of the group. “It’s a classic example of blatant discrimination.”
As of press time, the parade’s organizing committee was still meeting.
Meanwhile, the LGBT group has a booth at the three-day Tet Festival that begins Friday in Garden Grove. That event is put on by a different group, the Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7829 or rkopetman@ocregister.com
