Winner of the Outstanding Achievement in History Award for 2023, presented by the Association for Asian American Studies

Defying the AIDS epidemic, Asian American activists sparked a sex-affirming movement

The AIDS crisis reshaped life in Los Angeles in the 1980s and 1990s and radicalized a new generation of queer Asian Americans with a broad vision of health equity and sexual freedom. Even amid the fear and grief, Asian American AIDS activists created an infrastructure of care that centered the most stigmatized and provided diverse immigrant communities with the health resources and information they needed. Without a formal blueprint, these young organizers often had to be creative and agitational, and together they reclaimed the pleasure in sex and fostered inclusivity, regardless of HIV status.

A community memoir, Love Your Asian Body connects the deeply personal with the uncompromisingly political in telling the stories of more than thirty Asian American AIDS activists. In those early years of the epidemic, these activists became caregivers, social workers, nurses, researchers, and advocates for those living with HIV. And for many, the AIDS epidemic sparked the beginning of their continued work to build multiracial coalitions and confront broader systemic inequities. Detailing the intertwined realities of race and sexuality in AIDS activism, Love Your Asian Body offers a vital portrait of a movement founded on joy.

"With careful investigation, sincere testimonials, and a deep understanding of the connections between identity, health, and activism, Wat paints a vivid and compassionate picture of Asian American communities in Los Angeles struggling with the effects of the AIDS pandemic."

"Love Your Asian Body is a clarion call to understand one’s body not merely as a site for biotechnological intervention and individualized consumption but also as the source for envisioning social connectivities and political collectivities anew"

"Wat does an excellent job of conveying these emotional and inspirational stories of activism... This book is an inspiring work that deserves to be read as it is an integral piece towards understanding the queer Asian American struggle for sexual liberation and health equity."