This edition of From Our Eyes features Akpa Arinzechukwu (‘25 MFA Creative Writing). Arinzechukwu recently attended an event with writer, educator, and activist for the LGBTQ+ community, Eric C. Wat. Wat is one of the many Asian American gay men and lesbians who came together during the AIDS epidemic to support their community and fight back against fear and stigma in the 1980s. Wat interacted with the audience through activities, games, and reading from his book Love Your Asian Body: AIDS Activism in Los Angeles (University of Washington Press, 2022), which is based on 35 activists and survivors of the AIDS epidemic in Los Angeles, and won the 2023 Association of Asian American Studies (AAAS) Book Award in History.

There was a time when talking about HIV/AIDS was taboo, and the only people who cared about the topic were families or people with whom one was in a community with. The stigma surrounding the subject made it impossible for people to seek out the help they needed. Except for the survivors and witnesses during that time, not many people have an idea of how devastating the HIV/AIDS epidemic was in the 1980s or how communities banded together to fight and push for care and solutions.

Despite years of advancement and progress since 1987, when AIDS funding became available, there is still a disconnect between young people and the information about HIV/AIDS  available to them.

Eric C. Wat, the author of Love Your Asian Body: AIDS Activism in Los Angeles and an Activist for the LGBTQ+ Community, recently visited Chapman University and spoke at an event titled “Activism in Times of Crisis,” co-sponsored by the History Department,  Asian American Studies, and LGBTQ Studies. Wat began his talk by challenging those in attendance to participate in a quiz-style game, testing their knowledge of HIV/AIDS. With a welcoming smile, Wat offered feedback and context to the questions and their answers. When the game came to an end, Wat noted how having a community helped him come out of his shell to navigate his sexuality, emphasising that “it is easier to be courageous when you have other people behind you.”

Eric C. Wat.

Contextualising this in her opening remarks, moderator Dr. Lily Lucas Hodges (History) noted that by 1989, more Americans had died of the virus than in the Vietnam War, and she believes that there are things from that period that would be beneficial to our current climate. It is this history and the ongoing struggle that Wat’s book addresses. He calls the book “my love letter to both the city and the people who were a part of the AIDS Movement in the Asian American Community.”

At one point, Wat encouraged those in attendance to discuss what he had read from his book and what they had learned. This approach decentres the book and Wat, accommodating and inviting those who are not yet familiar with his work into the conversation, making sure no one feels left out.

I started talking to a student sitting next to me, and we both admitted to being young and a little clueless on this topic. The student admits that this is the first time he has ever heard about some of the things mentioned earlier, such as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP/PEP), a medication for HIV prevention, Asian Americans’ role in fighting AIDS, and how he used to not care about things like this until today. I told him, “Despite everything going on around us, we are given this opportunity to learn and unlearn certain biases.”

Many of us at the event aren’t of Asian descent but can relate to the issues discussed, as pointed out by Wat, that “whatever affects one, affects all.” Many of the deaths associated with the virus would have been avoided if the government hadn’t thought this was a “gay people’s issue” until it started affecting heterosexuals.

At the end, a member of the audience applauded Wat’s honesty and Chapman’s initiative to bring awareness to issues such as this.

Ethan Porter (‘26 History), one of the students in attendance, told me that his favourite thing about the event is how Wat uses the personal to speak to a whole — “a lot of things I wouldn’t have known.” Agreeing with him is Micah Gonzalez (‘25 Graphic Design), who finds Wat’s research and personal experience interesting, saying how important it is to be part of a community and learning from the elders.