Dear Red Pocket Family,

When one of my Red Pocket Magazine team members approached me about Pride month initiatives, I knew one of the initiatives I wanted to spearhead was a Pride 2020 Mini-Issue. Featuring stories from those in Hong Kong, to those in Georgia and Quebec, this issue tries its best to encapsulate the common, lived experience of LGBTQ+ Asian people -- the struggles and lost innocence experienced, but also the unconditional acceptance that blooms from these trials.

If you are not LGBTQ+, I hope this volume allows you to empathize with the struggles this community faces.

If you are LGBTQ+ and Asian, I hope you find yourself in one of these works of art, whether it be in Matthew Wong’s piece touching upon religion and sexuality, or Karen Zheng’s piece about her mother’s haunting judgements shrouding her when having sex.

Let this issue be a reminder to you that you are not alone, even when the world tells you that you are.

Good luck and happy reading!

Barton Lu

Founder and Editor-in-Chief

Red Pocket Magazine

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