Episode 4: Finding Pride (Justine Hsu)

september 12, 2019

Justine Hsu (who we affectionately call “J”) found ShanghaiPRIDE when she was in high school. She joined as an activist to fight for LGBTQ+ rights, and although she was out to her friends she still hadn’t come out to one of the most important people in her life: her mom. Inspired by the theme ‘This is Me’, Justine’s story chronicles her journey from accepting her identity to embracing it. In this episode we are also joined by Justine’s mentor Charlene Liu, one of the founders of ShanghaiPRIDE, to talk about the movement in Shanghai and wider China, and their hopes for the future. Plus check out more information on the bonus episode we released, another story from our ‘This is Me’ show.

Full Transcription of Episode 4

Photos (from left to right): Justine and her sister as a children (1997), with his sisters and mom on her 25th birthday (2017), with her mentor Charlene Liu at ShanghaiPRIDE’s 10 Year Anniversary celebration (2018), with Charlene on an NYC Pride trip (2017), telling her story at our ‘This is Me’ live show (2018)

Listen to Justine’s episode (available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Himalaya and Google Play) then you can hear her full story from our ‘This is Me’ 2018 live show.

Show Notes: ShanghaiPRIDE was founded in 2009, as an annual festival to celebrate diversity and to promote acceptance for the LGBTQ community through sports, cultural, educational, and social activities. ShanghaiPRIDE promotes cross-cultural exchange locally as well as with LGBTQ festivals across the globe, to learn more or to find out how to support ShanghaiPRIDE visit their website.

PFLAG China was founded in Guangzhou in 2008 and is an NGO formed by LGBT individuals, their parents, friends and supporters to serve and support LGBTQ+ people.