Kitty Tsui (born 1952, Hong Kong) is a Cantonese-American author, changemaker, artist, actor and athlete. Kitty came out as lesbian when she was 21-years-old, and in response, most of Kitty’s friends and family rejected her. Kitty published her debut collection of poetry and prose, “Words of a Woman who Breathes Fire”—the first known book written by a Chinese American lesbian to be published—and emerged as a leading figure in the Asian Pacific Islander queer movement in San Francisco.
Most recently, she received the Phoenix Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women and Transgender Community and was commissioned by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center to create a poem and video for a digital exhibit called “A Day in the Life of Queer Asian Pacific America.” Lambda Literary listed Tsui as one of the 50 most influential lesbian and gay writers in the United States.
The exhibition will feature Asian-American queer legend Kitty Tsui’s personal archive and showcase 50 years of her work. The exhibition will be curated by TA magazine, a new queer community zine dedicated to non-binary folks, with the name TA referring to the genderless pronoun [x也] in Chinese.
The exhibition’s opening night will start with a tour led by TA magazine team around the Lobby and will be followed by a screening of Nice Chinese Girls Don’t (2019) in the Music Room. The short documentary features Kitty being interviewed on her life as a full-on Renaissance woman. A live-stream Q&A with Kitty will take place after the screening. The night will continue with a party with the performance by transgender DJ, Misty Penguin.
Opening night tickets are available here.