Friendship is what Asians & Friends Chicago is all about...
Founded in 1984 to bring together gay people interested in developing a greater understanding of Asian cultures and in developing friendships through social, cultural and educational activities, Asians & Friends Chicago continues to offer opportunities to meet people and make friends in Chicago and beyond.
The
members of Asians & Friends Chicago include people from all walks
of life, including students, managers, lawyers, doctors, retailers,
real estate professionals, accountants, artists, clerks, travel
agents, therapists, and engineers to name a few. People of all ages
and ethnic backgrounds belong to Asians & Friends Chicago. We have
"closeted" members, members who are just in the coming-out process,
and members who have lived openly gay for many years.
Many of the members of Asians & Friends Chicago trace their roots to the Philippines, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Thailand, but we also have members with ties to Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Laos. Many members are also Asian-American. About half of our members are non-Asian. Currently, all of our members are men, but we always welcome women to join us at events. This group is about friendship so don't hesitate to be a part of a fun vibrant group!
The interests of members of Asians & Friends Chicago vary from classical music to current movies to fine restaurants to the Art Institute to the Botanic Gardens to high-energy dancing to drag contests to leather to sports and anything else one would find among a diverse group of people. This diversity contributes to the strength of Asians & Friends Chicago.
There are similar groups to Asians & Friends Chicago worldwide, and we keep in contact with them through newsletter exchanges and an annual weekend conference, called International Friendship Weekends that rotates among member cities (details on previous conferences the IFA website). Previous conferences have been held in Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Houston, South Florida, Philadelphia and London, England. 2005's conference will be in Toronto, 2006's conferemce will be in San Francisco.
As a not-for-profit organization, we do not discriminate against anyone who shares our goals and purposes. Come find out what a fun group Asians and Friends Chicago is!