Gaysians is set in Seattle and opens in 2003. AJ, newly out and newly arrived, has left his Filipino American family in upstate New York. He has recently finished high school, and he has landed with no job and no friends. He finds an apartment so far from the Capitol Hill gayborhood that lesbians don’t live there.
On AJ’s first time at a gay club, he accidentally spills a drink on K, who becomes his mentor and glamorous drag queen mother. There is John—a Korean American burly bear of a man and gamer and adoptee. His roommate is Steven, the handsome, sexy, promiscuous Vietnamese son of immigrant boat people working as a nursing home assistant.
Gaysians follows these character’s lives their foibles, loves and passions, mental states, and karmic twists and turns. Past lives come into play as they find themselves and their chosen family. After watching the film The Joy Luck Club together, they call themselves The Boy Luck Club.
Curato defines dishy gay jargon, and in one scene, explains the term RQ’s—“Rice Queens”—those who are exclusively attracted to Asian men. There is also the term “Sticky Rice”—Asian who are into other Asian men. Racism continues to be an issue that still persists in liberal safe gay friendly enclave Capitol Hill.
Curato’s illustrations are powerful and original—often blazingly beautiful and sharply-observed, adding poignancy to the text. Seattle’s gay scene is gorgeously presented and sharply delineated. Readers may recognize familiar Seattle landmarks and street scenes.
As a writer, Curato also weaves history and current events into his narrative. Japanese American incarceration during WWII, Vietnamese boat people, xenophobia, racism, and transphobia are stirred into the mix.
Gaysians is a welcome addition to new writings on gay Asian literature and may be the first adult Asian American graphic novel on this subject written by a gay Asian for gay Asians.
