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An Examination of Asian and Pacific
Islander LGBT Populations Across
the United States
Juan Battle • Antonio (Jay) Pastrana, Jr. • Angelique Harris

An Examination
of Asian and Pacific
Islander LGBT
Populations Across
the United States
Intersections of Race and Sexuality
Juan Battle Antonio (Jay) Pastrana, Jr.
Graduate Center John Jay College of Criminal Justice
City University of New York City University of New York
New York, USA New York, USA

Angelique Harris
Marquette University
Milwaukee, USA

ISBN 978-1-137-56518-1 ISBN 978-1-137-56519-8 (eBook)


DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-56519-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016955042

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017


This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the
publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to
the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.

Cover illustration: Cover pattern © Melisa Hasan

Printed on acid-free paper

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature


The registered company is Nature America Inc.
The registered company address is: 1 New York Plaza, New York, NY 10004, U.S.A.
CONTENTS

1 Introduction 1
Naming and Labels 4
LGBT Communities 5
API LGBT Communities 6
API LGBTs Coming Out 6
API LGBT Family Life 7
The Significance of API LGBT Sexuality 8
Organization of the Book 9
References 10

2 Current Trends 15
Current Trends 16
Trans* Issues 16
Immigration 17
Marriage 17
Economics 18
Health 19
References 19

3 Coming Out and Being Out 23


Meet Shui Jade Sheung 26
Racial or Ethnic Identity For LGBT People of Color 29
The API LGBT Closet 30

v
vi CONTENTS

Religion 30
Notes 31
References 31

4 Religion and Spirituality 33


Religion in API Communities 34
The SJS Project and API LGBT Religious and Spiritual Practices 34
Diversity in Religious Experiences 35
Religion in Family and Culture 37
Religious Institutions and Homosexuality 39
References 42

5 Family Life 43
API Families in the United States 44
Support Within Families 45
Relationships and Children 51
References 53

6 The SJS Project: Phases of Research 55


SJS Research Principles and Background 55
Phase I—Preliminary Work 57
Phase II—Field Period for Quantitative Survey 59
Phase III—Reports and Academic Articles 59
Phase IV—Field Period for Qualitative Survey 60
Phase V—Field Period for Digital Image Project 60
Notes 61
References 61

Index 63
ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Juan Battle is a Professor of Sociology, Public Health, and Urban Education


at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He is
also the Coordinator of the Africana Studies Certificate Program.
His research focuses on race, sexuality, and social justice. In addition to
having delivered lectures at a multitude of academic institutions, commu-
nity-based organizations, and funding agencies throughout the world,
Professor Battle’s scholarship has included work throughout North
America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe.
He is a Fulbright Senior Specialist; was the Fulbright Distinguished Chair
of Gender Studies at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria; and was an
Affiliate Faculty of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, the
University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, and Tobago.
Further, he is a former president of the Association of Black Sociologists
and is actively involved with the American Sociological Association.
For more information, see JuanBattle.com.

Antonio (Jay) Pastrana, Jr. is an Associate Professor in the Sociology


Department and Deputy Director of the Gender Studies Program at John
Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY. His research and scholarship calls
attention to theoretical, methodological, and practical dilemmas within
the field of intersectionality studies. Specifically, he examines how race-
based marginalization affects the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans*
(LGBT) people of color.

vii
viii ABOUT THE AUTHORS

As a professor, Pastrana encourages students to participate in profes-


sional activities outside of the classroom, while helping them to connect
their own lives to the task of critical inquiry. As a Principal Investigator of
the Social Justice Sexuality Project, one of the largest national survey
research projects to collect data on LGBT people of color, he is committed
to ongoing efforts that document the lived experiences of these under-
studied populations. A New York City native, Pastrana engages various
audiences in advancing the work produced by scholars exploring intersec-
tional issues, specifically those whose focus includes race, class, gender and
sexuality, and social justice.

Angelique Harris is a Director of the Center for Gender and Sexualities


Studies and the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, and Associate
Professor of Sociology in the Department of Social and Cultural Sciences
at the Helen Way Klingler College of Arts and Sciences. Her research and
teaching interests include the sociology of health and illness, race and
ethnicity, gender and sexuality, religion, urban studies, media studies,
and social movements.
Her research examines social problems and issues within marginalized
communities, primarily focusing on the experiences of women, people of
color, and LGBTQ+ communities. Dr. Harris’s primary research program
studies how disadvantaged groups understand, construct, and respond to
health issues as well as how the marginalization and stigmatization they
experience impact their access to healthcare. She is the author of AIDS,
Sexuality, and the Black Church: Making the Wounded Whole, and coau-
thored the writing reference books Writing for Emerging Sociologists and
The Sociology Student’s Guide to Writing.
CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Abstract This chapter provides a context for the entire volume. First, issues
around language and labeling are presented. Next a general discussion is
provided concerning larger lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans* LGBT com-
munities. Then, more specific information is provided for Asian and Pacific
Islander (API) LGBT communities, with a particular focus on issues of
coming out, family life, and spirituality. This is followed by a discussion of
the significance of API LGBT sexuality. Finally, the chapter ends with a
presentation of how the rest of the book is organized.

Keywords Asian and Pacific Islander LGBT communities  Coming out 


Family life  Spirituality  API LGBT sexuality

I am sure they call it a “happy ending” because the story itself usually has
some seriously unhappy parts in the middle. And that’s definitely the
situation when it comes to my coming out “story.”
I grew up as an only child, living with my mother in Queens, New
York. She and my father grew up in a rural village in southern China and
immigrated together to the United States. Within two years of their
arrival, they had moved several times, across multiple cities and states,
and then I was born. When I was in second grade, my father left the

© The Author(s) 2017 1


J. Battle et al., An Examination of Asian and Pacific Islander LGBT
Populations Across the United States,
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-56519-8_1
2 AN EXAMINATION OF ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER LGBT POPULATIONS . . .

house to follow up on a job in a restaurant and didn’t come back. I never


really knew what happened. But there are some family rumors that he has
moved back to China and remarried.
So it was just me and my mom. For as long as I can remember, we were
more different than alike. She drew heavily on traditional Chinese culture,
and I was drawn to all things American. For her, every meal had to include
rice; and for me, every meal could just as easily have been pizza. She spoke
to me only in Chinese and I rebelliously responded only in English, except
for the two years when I took high school Spanish.
Thinking about it, we really only had one thing in common: “girly-
girls.” She wanted one for a daughter and I wanted one for a girlfriend.
I couldn’t be what she wanted me to be, and she didn’t want me to be
what I wanted to be. It was a topic that, without discussing, we agreed
never to discuss.
That worked fine until my 17th birthday. Lots of my friends were there
and so were many of Mom’s. At some point, we were alone and cleaning up
after the party. Nothing in particular happened, but for whatever reason,
I felt like I was finally old enough to enter the demilitarized zone of the
conversation. So without any warning, I just blurted out, “Mom, I’m a
lesbian.” Her response was not what I expected.
It was worse!
She was incredibly upset, and we argued nonstop for hours.
Eventually, I stormed out of the house to stay with my best friend.
My mother called and even came to my friend’s house a few times
looking for me. I told her I wanted my space and to be away from her
and her expectations. After a few days, she stopped calling. And within a
week, I had to admit that I was missing her terribly.
Eventually, I went home. Mom and I had the same conversation we
had after the party, but this time we talked, instead of yelled, for hours;
and at times, we cried instead of screamed. Mom explained that her yelling
was not because she was disappointed with me, but it was because she was
disappointed that my life would not look like what she dreamed for her
child when she left China. Over the next several days, she described how
hard it was to leave her family in China, to be abandoned by her husband,
and to raise me alone. She talked about how hard it was to learn English,
find a job, a stable place to live, and build a support network as a single
mother who was suffering through the shame of having her husband
abandon her.
1 INTRODUCTION 3

She went on to proclaim that she wanted me to be happy, and she knew
how hard that would be if I were “different.” In essence, she didn’t want
her daughter picked on.
I was able to explain that I’ve felt “different” on many levels, some of
them having nothing to do with my sexual orientation. I told her that I was
OK with being different. I told her I could handle being picked on by people
in the street; however, it hurt most when I was picked on at home.
Over the next few years, we worked on listening to each other, respect-
ing each other, and not picking on each other. I don’t want to sound like a
cliché, but it did get better. Now, I’m a 23-year-old graduate student in
anthropology, living in Philadelphia, and my mother considers my partner
of three years as “another daughter.”
Only time will tell if the ultimate ending of this story is a happy one, but
I have to admit it’s pretty good right now.
According to data from the Social Justice Sexuality (SJS) Project,
Mei’s story is not uncommon. The patterns of Asian and Pacific
Islander (API) LGBT life defy common stereotypes. Of the over 5,000
participants surveyed for the SJS Project, API LGBT respondents, con-
trary to some expectations, are less religious than other LGBT commu-
nities of color; feel as connected to the broader LGBT community as
other LGBT people of color; are no more likely to feel homophobia is a
problem in their neighborhood or community; and are more likely to feel
their racial or ethnic status is an important part of their identity. And
about 90% are out to at least some of their friends and family.
The SJS Project began as a research agenda that sought to document
and celebrate the stories of API LGBT people: their racial and sexual
identities, spirituality and religion, mental and physical health, family
formations and dynamics, and civic and community engagement. Since
2008, one of the overarching goals of the project has been to better
understand identity and life experiences through a knowledge-based
lens—one that does not necessarily ask about issues of discrimination,
stigma, HIV and AIDS, and pathology but rather seeks to gather base-
line data that have not been systematically collected. This purposeful
line of inquiry not only has its roots in feminist scholarship (e.g.,
Crenshaw 1989; Matsuda 1991; Sandoval 1991), but it is also part of
a tradition of social scientific and legal scholarship on race that seeks to
build counter-narratives. These stories are often in conflict with peo-
ple’s everyday (and stereotypical) understandings of the role of race,
4 AN EXAMINATION OF ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER LGBT POPULATIONS . . .

sexuality, and gender in the lives of people of color. For more about the
theoretical perspectives and research methodologies employed by the
SJS Project, please refer to Chapter 6.
Using both qualitative and quantitative data from the SJS Project as a
guide, this book uncovers more common and uncommon stories of API
LGBT people. Using respondents’ own words, distinctions are made
between myths and lived realities. Some of the information presented
in these pages is common sense, while other information is new and
counterintuitive. Ultimately, our goal is to educate all and empower a
collection of communities of people who, all too often, don’t get to tell
their own stories but are forced to spend their lives responding to
narratives that are told about them.

NAMING AND LABELS


Shakespeare reminds us that a rose by any other name would still smell
as sweet. In short, no matter what you call it, it’s still a rose. Well,
sexuality is clearly more complicated and dynamic than plant life.
Sexuality is comprised of the persistent fluidity and intersecting com-
ponents of identity, behavior, and attraction (Chandra et al. 2011).
Therefore, depending upon which of these interdependent measures
researchers employ, sample sizes can dramatically change (Gates 2011,
2012; SMART 2009), thus causing the proverbial rose to smell of
some other combination. For the purpose of this intellectual enter-
prise, we employ the term “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans*” (LGBT)
to refer to individuals and groups who do not completely or always
self-identify as heterosexual. We use the abbreviation “trans*” (with
the “*” symbol) to capture the experiences of those who identify as
transgender, transsexual, or those for whom the traditional labels of
male or female are inadequate, insufficient, or incorrect. Further,
we use the term LGBT realizing that it has different meanings for
different people.
Concerning race, throughout this volume, we will employ language
from the US Department of Labor. An API will be defined as a person
whose origins can be traced back to the original people of the Far East,
Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands. This area
includes, for example, China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Samoa;
and on the Indian Subcontinent: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,
Nepal, and Bhutan. Finally, it bears noting that most API people do not
1 INTRODUCTION 5

use racial terms assigned to them. Instead, most API people around the
world refer to themselves based on whichever country or indigenous
population they belong to (e.g., Japanese, Chinese, Malaysian). As a social
construct—something that changes over time and within different con-
texts—identity labels are neither static nor universal.

LGBT COMMUNITIES
Though there is more to be done, scholars have investigated lesbian and
gay experiences from a historical perspective (Chauncey 1994; D‘Emilio
2002; Epstein 1999; Gamson and Moon 2004; Sedgwick 1990; Seidman
2006; Vaid 1995). Further, others have highlighted the importance of
race (Ferguson 2007; Guzmán 2006; Nagel 2000; Sommerville 2000;
Vidal-Ortiz 2008) and racism (McBride 2005; Young and Meyer 2005)
on that history.
By creating separate groups of people based on heterosexual and
homosexual identity, many have argued that the medical field was instru-
mental in stigmatizing sexual minorities (Weeks 1996). In addition, the
most powerful institution informing the “racial morphology” within the
United States has been the law (Haney Lopez 1996). Therefore, in
resistance to that unique oppression, researchers have linked experiences
of sexual minorities of color with issues of social justice (Cohen 1997;
Teunis et al. 2006). The immigration of people of color further compli-
cates conversations of race in the US (Choo 2012; Puri 2004;
Purkayastha 2012).
Because so much research focuses on disease and illness instead of
health and wellbeing, a strong bias exists in social science research
(Boehmer 2002; Keyes and Grzywacz 2005). As a result, there have
been explicit calls for more research highlighting a resilience over a deficit
model (Akerlund and Cheung 2000; Masten 1994; Shih 2004). Adrienne
Rich has encouraged more dynamic thinking when it comes to sexuality.
For example, she describes a lesbian continuum to convey that sexuality is
more fluid than fixed (1981). Social identity (whether racial or sexual
orientation) tends to develop via “stages” (Erikson 1956). Further, people
of color and sexual minorities are more likely to suffer from minority stress
(Meyer 1995), which occurs from navigating value structures that are in
conflict between minority and majority groups (Cross 1978; Phinney
1992). There is a long history of researchers documenting negative phy-
sical and mental health outcomes for LGBT people of color due to
6 AN EXAMINATION OF ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER LGBT POPULATIONS . . .

minority stress (Balsam and Szymanski 2005; Mays and Cochran 2001;
Mays, Cochran, and Rhue 1993; Mays et al. 2002).
Because of the stresses related to multiple minority statuses, activists
have worked diligently to create “safe spaces” (Davis 2002). Others,
however, have argued that dominant ideologies are always present and
internalized, and by implication no “space” is safe (Foucault 1990).
The stresses related to multiple minority statuses have produced several
responses. One response has been that dominant ideologies are always
present and internalized (Foucault 1990); another response has been to
create safe spaces (Davis 2002). The reality of multiple statuses has
prompted theorists to view sexuality through intersectionality, a theo-
retical framework and methodological lens to understand racial mino-
rities, sexual minorities, and their intersections (Collins 2000, 2015;
Crenshaw 1989; Lorde 2001; Weber 2010).

API LGBT COMMUNITIES


While images within popular culture frequently display Asian and Pacific
Island American men as emasculated, asexual, homosexual, or queer (Eng
2001; Espiritu 2008; Takaki 1998) or on the other extreme as martial
artists (Feagin 2006); images concerning Asian and Pacific Island American
women have been consistent—as sexually available to men (Prasso 2006).
Far too often, Asian Americans’ racial identity is imposed more than self-
created (Takagi 1994). More specifically, the very concept of
“Orientalism” describes the process of White people in the West imposing
their images on Asian and Pacific Island Americans’ bodies and experiences
(Prashad 2003; Said 1978).
There is a paucity of research specifically examining the experiences
of API LGBT populations (Eng and Horn 1998; Leong 1996; Singh
et al. 2006). It is worth noting, however, that gender nonconforming
people have a long history of positions of power in Asian cultures
(Chung and Singh 2009).

API LGBTS COMING OUT


Though often presented as a “moment in time” event, in reality, “com-
ing out” is an ongoing process of figuring out, processing, and sharing
with others one’s same-sex attraction (Gagnon and Simon 1973).
Further, sexual orientation is fluid and can change both over the life
1 INTRODUCTION 7

course as well as in different settings (Garnets and Kimmel 1993). The


term “passing” emerged from the US Black community and was typically
used to apply to those who were able to successfully present themselves
as White (Ginsberg 1996). In more recent years, however, the term has
been applied to trans* populations (Cromwell 1999) and other sexual
minorities.

API LGBT FAMILY LIFE


Regardless of race, the legalization of same-sex marriage has had and
will continue to have a seismic impact on how LGBT people “can”
legally form their families. Though there were many who had concerns
about unintended outcomes (D’Emilio 2007), most agree that the
overall impact will be positive for most LGBT people. That notwith-
standing, for LGBT people of color, there’s more to family life than the
ability to marry.
Researchers have examined nontraditional family formations (Weston
1991) and specific issues as they pertain to LGBT youth (Kumashiro
2001; Savin-Williams 1990; Sklar 2009) and populations of color
(Hawkeswood 1991). And the importance of families in ethnic and racial
groups is generally well known (see Chavez and Guido-DiBrito 1999).
While many API people have strong family ties (Liu and Chan 1996;
Nakamura et al. 2009), others may be estranged from their families
because of their sexual orientation (Tran 1998). With few exceptions
(Bernstein and Reimann 2001), research on family life privileges a het-
eronormative nuclear model. This is particularly problematic for families
of color, where fictive kin families (Portes and Rumbaut 1996; Sarkisian
and Gerstel 2012) often exist. In addition, a history of discriminatory
practices in employment, concentrated poverty, and industrial restruc-
turing have left women of color, regardless of sexual orientation in lower
levels of socioeconomic status (Rodriquez et al. 2007).
The reasons for the paucity of research on LGBT families of color are
multifold. Bennett and Battle (2001), however, present a powerful
critique of that lack of research:

Another reason for the lack of research on LGBT . . . black families is the
belief by many mainstream . . . scholars and researchers that it is not their
job to address the African American LGBT population if they themselves
are not part of that population. “What” they might ask, “gives us the right
8 AN EXAMINATION OF ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER LGBT POPULATIONS . . .

to speak authoritatively on a subject position that we do not occupy?” This


is a legitimate question, one that is related to other important questions
about the role of subjectivity in social science research and the dangers of
misappropriating the experience of research subjects. However, the impli-
cation that LGBTs should be the only ones held responsible for research in
this area is erroneous. It acts as a way of dodging the hard work necessary
to thoroughly research and fairly represent a research subject that is dif-
ferent from and perhaps even hostile to the researcher (a not unusual
situation). (61)

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF API LGBT SEXUALITY


So why study API Americans and their sexuality? Simply put, sexuality
and sexual politics are core to who we are. As Collins (2004) reminds
us, sexual politics are “a set of ideas and social practices shaped by
gender, race, and sexuality that frame all men and women’s treatment
of one another, as well as how individual men and women are perceived
and treated by others.”
The number of API people in the United States has grown significantly
in the past 20 years and will continue to grow. As a result, understanding
ethnic diversity within this community is crucial. Further, given the United
States’ clear history of regulating Asian bodies, understanding that impact
on sexuality is warranted. Many a page has been written about the impor-
tance of family to API people in the United States; what’s needed,
however, is more thorough research on how the regulation of API bodies
manifests across multiple family formations (e.g., single vs. married house-
holds, same-sex vs. opposite sex marriages, households with children vs.
those without, etc.). While models of resiliency are understudied, narra-
tives of pathology—from HIV/AIDS and smoking to high blood pressure
and depression—are plentiful and disproportionately applied to API sexual
minorities.
As a result, API LGBT people in the United States are more likely to
be the subject of assumptions (e.g., model minority) than research. And
for the research that does exist, far too much of it eroticizes them by
focusing on their “foreign” status. Asian American women are often
forced to counter assumptions of hypersexuality, while Asian American
men must counter narratives about racial castration or expertise in mar-
tial artistry. Additionally, there is the burden of navigating racism (both
inside LGBT communities and beyond), homophobia (both inside API
1 INTRODUCTION 9

communities and beyond), and the intersection of the two. More speci-
fically, all too often, while their larger heterosexual Asian communities
fight for racial justice and the larger White LGBT communities fight for
sexual justice, the unique experiences of API LGBTs go unvoiced.
It has been argued that people are destroyed from a lack of knowledge.
Through sound research and reasoned thinking, this book addresses
erroneous information and myths with the expectation that if ignorance
kills, then knowledge will empower.

ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK


Subsequent chapters of this book, utilizing both quantitative and qualita-
tive data gathered by the SJS Project, focus on the lives of API LGBT
people in the United States. In Chapter 2, current trends in research and
in the social, cultural, and political lives of API LGBT people are exam-
ined. Some of these issues are related to trans* populations, immigration,
marriage, economic status, and health.
In Chapter 3, coming out practices are examined, with particular
attention paid to the voices of research participants who shared their
stories with the SJS Project. This chapter highlights their experiences,
perceptions, and challenges related to coming out. And it explores how
API LGBT people navigate being out to others in their lives today.
Coming out as LGBT is complex, multifaceted, and a life-long process
that often includes religion and family, which are each examined in the
next two chapters of the book.
Chapter 4 examines the role of religion in the lives of API LGBT
people. Previous studies, as well as SJS data, indicate that spiritualty
and religion are important factors in the everyday lives of API people.
This chapter discusses their influence on the coming out processes
and experiences of individuals who shared their stories with the SJS
project.
In Chapter 5, another important social institution is explored:
families. The history of API people in the United States has shown
that there are a number of different family configurations beyond that
of the heteronormative two-parent household often touted as ideal in
this nation. This chapter focuses on how the individuals interviewed
conceptualize family and how they make any distinction between family
of origin, family of creation, and fictive family/kin. Also, this chapter
addresses how families influence the coming out process.
10 AN EXAMINATION OF ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER LGBT POPULATIONS . . .

Lastly, Chapter 6 contains a chronological inventory of the various


research approaches and tools used throughout the lifetime of the SJS
Project. Starting with a broad theoretical stance, the project has consis-
tently employed various methodologies and included over 5000 research
participants whose invaluable time, stories, and perspectives are the heart
of this book.

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CHAPTER 2

Current Trends

Abstract This chapter presents current trends for Asian and Pacific Islander
LGBT communities. More specifically, five unique areas are explored: trans*
issues, immigration, marriage, economics, and health.

Keywords Trans* issues  Immigration  Marriage  Economics  Health

MYTH: All sexual and racial minorities use the same terms to identify
themselves.
REALITY: Within groups, there is diversity in the labels people like to
use to refer to themselves, and throughout history, the cate-
gories for race, ethnicity, and sexuality have changed.
MYTH: All trans* people are White.
REALITY: There is significant racial diversity within the trans*
community.
MYTH: Immigration is not an issue for LGBT communities.
REALITY: There are thousands of same sex couples throughout the
United States where one or neither partner is a US citizen.
Further, immigration is often a means through which LGBT
individuals—regardless of relationship status—seek shelter
from legal and social stigmas in their countries of origin.
MYTH: All LGBT people identify marriage as a top issue.

© The Author(s) 2017 15


J. Battle et al., An Examination of Asian and Pacific Islander LGBT
Populations Across the United States,
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-56519-8_2
16 AN EXAMINATION OF ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER LGBT POPULATIONS . . .

REALITY: In addition to marriage, API LGBT people identified eco-


nomic issues as top concerns.
MYTH: All LGBT people are wealthy.
REALITY: Broadly, LGBT people earn less than their heterosexual
counterparts.
MYTH: Being healthy is a choice.
REALITY: Research shows that an individual’s and community’s eco-
nomic resources have a significant impact on health out-
comes. Racism, discrimination, and economic conditions
influence API LGBT health.

CURRENT TRENDS
According to analysis of the 2011 American Community Survey, API
Americans comprise about 5% of all US adults; and of those who identify
as LGBT, 4.3% are Asian. Arguably, the biggest current trend affecting
API LGBT people crystalized on Friday, June 26, 2015. On that day, the
United States’ Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees a
right to same-sex marriage. Though that event was monumental it was by
no means all-encompassing. In short, API sexual minorities have aspects
of, and issues in, their lives that may be related to, but also go beyond,
same-sex marriage. Among them, we provide specific attention to issues
related to trans* people, immigration issues, marriage, economic issues,
and health.

TRANS* ISSUES
According to a report jointly published by the National Queer Asian Pacific
Islander Alliance, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), and
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) “the combination of anti-
transgender bias with structural and interpersonal racism [means] that trans-
gender and gender non-conforming people of color, including those who are
[API], experience particularly devastating levels of discrimination” (NCTE
2010). With 18% reporting a household income of less than $10,000/year,
API trans* and gender non-conforming people often live in extreme poverty.
This number is six times the general API population rate (3%), and over four
times the general US population rate (4%) (Grant et al. 2011).
Even in the presence of devastating levels of discrimination, however,
there are powerful glimmers of hope. For example, 44% of API trans* and
2 CURRENT TRENDS 17

gender non-conforming people have experienced significant family accep-


tance. Those respondents who were accepted by their families were much
less likely to face discrimination (NCTE 2010).

IMMIGRATION
According to the NGLTF (NGLTF 2014), almost 80 countries have laws
that discriminate against LGBT people; and in seven countries, there is
capital punishment for having sex with someone of the same sex. In the
United States, thousands of LGBT people apply for asylum, but only
about 1000 are admitted annually; and the United States has over
267,000 LGBT adults who are undocumented immigrants. Almost
three-quarters (72%) of people in the United States, however, feel that
undocumented immigrants should be able to remain in the United States
legally (Pew 2015a).
Just as there is a military industrial complex and a prison industrial
complex, some have argued that the United States has an immigration
detention industrial complex as well (Kalhan 2010). With an annual
budget of over 3.3 billion dollars and with about 33,000 people in
detention on any given day, the US Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) is quite a substantial federal agency. Further, almost
half of those detained by ICE are held by private corporations, who get
millions of dollars from the federal government for their services.
Caught in this web are detained LGBT immigrants who, compared to
the general population, experience increased rates of physical and sexual
abuse in detention facilities. According to data from the United States
Census, there are nearly 11,500 same-sex couples in which neither
partner is a US citizen and 14% of noncitizens in binational same-sex
couples are Asian Pacific Islander; while among citizens in same-sex
binational couples, 7% are Asian/Pacific Islander (Konnoth and Gates
2011).

MARRIAGE
In 2001, about 57% of people in the United States opposed same-sex
marriage; by 2015 the same percentage (57%) favored it (Pew 2015b).
Though there were some racial differences, they were not at all dramatic.
Racial difference and patterns are dramatic, however, when examining
marriage patterns—for both opposite-sex and same-sex couples. Due to
18 AN EXAMINATION OF ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER LGBT POPULATIONS . . .

a large influx of immigrants in recent decades, the number of API adults


has significantly increased and so too have the number who have never
married. For example, in 1980 only 13% of API adults had never married;
by 2012, that number had increased to 19% (Pew 2014). Though the
Census Bureau collects data on same-sex couples, it does not include
information on unpartnered—or single—gay men or lesbians. Nor does it
track same-sex couples who do not live together in the same household.
Therefore, Census Bureau tabulations should be read cautiously.
According to the Pew Research Center (2013a), nearly 650,000
same-sex couple households of all races were counted in the 2010
Census. They included nearly 515,000 unmarried-partner couples and
nearly 132,000 couples who identified themselves as married. So why
then does marriage matter, and especially to LGBT racial minorities?
There are at least two reasons. First, a sizeable number of API
Americans are living in poverty (Census 2011). Marriage can be seen
as an economic contract and thus a modality out of poverty. Second, for
those who can find (suitable) partners, marriage can serve as a mechan-
ism to citizenship and acceptance by the larger society.

ECONOMICS
According to API LGBT respondents of the Social Justice Sexuality
Project, economic issues are the second most important issue facing
them (Battle et al. 2013). This is not a surprising finding given experi-
ences with poverty and employment discrimination. For example,
according to the Pew Research Center 2013 LGBT survey and the
Pew Research Center analysis of the 2011 American Community
Survey, LGBT adults are more likely to be poor than their non-LGBT
counterparts. More specifically, while 28% of all adults have an income
of less than $30,000, almost 40% of all LGBT adults do. In addition,
API communities are philanthropically underserved. For example,
according to a report published by the Funders for LGBTQ Issues
(2014), in 2013, API LGBT communities received about 1% of all
domestic funding for LGBT issues.
Further, in one of the first and most comprehensive studies ever
conducted on LGBT poverty, Albeda and colleagues (2009) found,
among other things, that poverty is at least as common in the LGBT
population as among heterosexual people and their families; children in
gay and lesbian couple households have poverty rates twice as high as
2 CURRENT TRENDS 19

those of children in heterosexual married couple households; and API


people in same-sex couples are much more likely to be poor than White
same-sex couples. And more recently, a 2012 Gallup poll found that
35% of those who identify as LGBT report incomes of less than
$24,000 a year, significantly higher than the 24% for the population
in general (Gates and Newport 2012).
The long history of practices leading to LGBT workplace discrimination
has been well documented elsewhere (Badgett et al. 2009). Significantly,
however, these practices continue today. And extensive research has shown
that discrimination against LGBT people has a negative impact in terms of
health, wages, job opportunities, productivity in the workplace, and job
satisfaction (Sears and Mallory 2011).

HEALTH
Economic inequities serve to both create and sustain health inequities
(Sears and Mallory 2011). Research shows that compared to other racial
and sexual minorities, LGBT API adults are most likely to experience
psychological distress (Krehely 2009).
Not all issues concerning API LGBT people are negative. For example,
a nationwide sample of LGBT people of color (Battle et al. 2013) found
that compared to other LGBT people of color, API LGBT people feel just
as connected to the broader LGBT community, are no more likely to feel
homophobia is a problem in their neighborhood or community (Battle et
al. 2013), and are significantly more likely to feel their racial or ethnic
status is an important part of their identity.

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2 CURRENT TRENDS 21

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Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
“Then we will consider it all settled; it is a banderbust,” and taking
Honor’s arm, she nodded quite an affectionate good night, and
retired into her own quarters.
Precisely at six o’clock the next day the party made a start—the
men on sturdy hill ponies, the ladies in dandies. What can be more
exquisite than a clear April morning on the lower slopes of the
Himalayas? The lake was still and lay half in shadow; the dew
glittered among the cherry blossoms, as if they were set in
diamonds; the low rush-covered marshes were sprinkled with herds
of cattle, and the doves were cooing in the dense woods that
overlooked the misty blue plains. The travellers encountered many
groups of hill folk, going to work among the cultivated patches lower
down, or in the neighbouring tea-gardens, as they passed through a
village, a flock of delightful little brown children sallied out and tossed
freshly plucked monthly roses into the ladies’ laps, “so charmingly
Arcadian and simple,” thought Honor. But she was disillusioned, by
the same little brown elves pursuing them for half a mile, with shrill
demands for “Bucksheesh! bucksheesh!”
As they toiled upwards, the day grew perceptibly warmer, the
ascent steeper. At twelve o’clock they halted by a mountain stream
under some evergreen oaks, and there found an excellent repast
awaiting them. Mrs. Brande’s portly cook had girded up his loins, and
hastened by short cuts and by-paths, and now lay in ambush with
this welcome repast of fowl, cold pie, rolls and coffee; claret and
hock were cooling in a neighbouring stream.
There was some satisfaction in being escort to Mrs. Brande, who
sat on a box, presiding over the table-cloth, and looking the
embodiment of gratified hospitality. When the meal had come to an
end and the men were smoking, she said—
“What’s that in your dandy, Honor? I see you taking as much care
of it as if it was some great treasure; not your new hats, I hope?” in a
tone of real concern.
“No, aunt; it is my violin—a much more important affair.”
“Nonsense, child! Why did you not leave it with the heavy
baggage?”
“Because it might have been smashed.”
“Well, if it was, it could be mended. We have a very clever Maistry
carpenter at Shirani. I often give him little jobs. My butler—a
Goanese—has a fiddle, too, and of an evening I hear him giving the
other servants a benefit.”
“Perhaps he and I may play duets,” remarked Honor, demurely.
“My dear child!” with a deeply horrified air. “How can you talk in
such a wild way? Captain Waring is shocked—ain’t you, captain?”
“Dreadfully scandalized; and I will only condone the outrage to my
feelings on one condition, that Miss Gordon plays us a solo. Will you,
Miss Gordon? This is the hour and the place.”
Mrs. Brande naturally expected that her niece would require at
least a quarter of an hour’s incessant pressing; and, indeed, in spite
of what the Hodsons had told her, this benighted old person was not
at all sure that it was the correct thing for a woman to play the fiddle.
“Would Mrs. Langrishe allow her girl to do it?” and visions of her own
fat black butler, squatting outside the house in the cool of the day
playing jigs and reels to a circle of enraptured syces and chuprassis,
rose before her mind’s eye!
This vision was quickly dispelled by another. Honor longed for the
sound of her beloved violin, her present audience were not
formidable, and she was not the least nervous. Last time she had
held her fiddle and bow it had been a dull wet afternoon at home—a
type of the worst grey, sullen, English weather. She had played to
them in the drawing-room Schubert’s “Adieu.” Yes, and her mother
had wept. Now, what a different scene, and different listeners! Two
men, almost strangers, prone on the grass, lazily expectant, and, as
far as Captain Waring was concerned, condescendingly ready to be
entertained; a stout lady sitting on a wine-case, with her napkin on
her knee, and her topee quite at the back of her head; a distant
group of scarlet-and-white clad servants; and all around a scene fit
to encircle Orpheus himself. Range after range of purple-blue hills,
rising out of rhododendron and oak forests, a rival across the valley
in the shape of a cuckoo, otherwise a waiting, sympathetic silence.
As the girl took the violin out of its case, Captain Waring could see
that it was in hands that loved it; and noted, moreover, that the said
hands were beautiful—the wrists most daintily modelled. Soon the
bow began to call forth heavenly sounds.
Honor stood up, leaning carelessly against the trunk of a tree, and
seemed wholly unconscious of her audience; her face, which was
turned towards the hills, gradually assumed a rapt exalted
expression, and her playing was in keeping with her attitude and her
eyes. The performance was a revelation—a mixture of great
simplicity, with a distinct note of human passion in its strain. Surely
the music was the voice of this girl’s sweet soul!
The servants boldly came near to hear this new “Miss Sahib” who
drew such marvellous strains from the “sitar.” The very ponies
pricked their ears, a rambling hill cow halted to listen, the competitive
cuckoo was dumb.
The two young men gradually dropped their cigarettes. Mrs.
Brande dropped her jaw. Why, her niece played as well as a man at
a concert! Even better, in her opinion, for this was a tune that
touched her, and that she could understand; those sweet wailing
notes, resembling a human voice, penetrated her opaque
sensibilities, and wafted her to the very gates of Paradise.
Captain Waring surveyed with unaffected curiosity this fair young
musician, with his elbows dug into the grass, his chin resting on his
hands. He knew something about music; the girl played with faultless
taste and absolute purity of tone. He was listening to “linked
sweetness long drawn out” rendered with truly expressive charm.
Here was not the common or ordinary Indian spin, but a modern
Saint Cecilia! He glanced at Mark, to see how this unexpected
transformation had affected him; but Mark’s face was averted, and
he gave no sign, though in reality he was enjoying a debauch of
exquisite musical thoughts.
Presently the spell, a weird Russian air, died away in a long
sobbing sigh, and, save for a murmur among the servants, there
ensued quite a remarkable pause, broken at length by Mrs. Brande,
who exclaimed as if she had suddenly awoke—
“Very pretty indeed! And how did you like it, Captain Waring?”
“Like it!” he echoed indignantly. “My dear madam, what a feeble
and inadequate expression! Miss Gordon plays magnificently.”
“Oh indeed, no,” she protested. “I can play music that I can feel—
and that is easy, and I began to learn the violin when I was four
years old, so that my fingers are pretty supple; but when I think of
other people’s playing, such as Sarasate, I realize that I am nothing
more than a well-meaning amateur, and never will be otherwise. I
cannot master any excessive technical difficulties. I have no
brilliancy—still,” with a happy little sigh, “I am glad that you liked it.”
“Yes, my dear,” said her aunt, nodding her head approvingly. “And
now let us have something lively. Suppose you play a polka?”
But the violin was already in its case. Honor had laid it there with
the air of a mother consigning an infant to its rest.
“Oh, Miss Gordon, what a shame!” expostulated Mark Jervis. “I
could lie on this sunny slope, under the rhododendrons, listening to
you for days.”
“You would not find it very comfortable in the rains,” remarked Mrs.
Brande, with some asperity. She did not approve of penniless young
men thus launching compliments at her accomplished niece. “And
now we had better be getting on, if we are to reach Binsa before
dark.”
The next and last day of their march the party were proceeding as
usual in pairs; Honor and Captain Waring led the van, whilst Jervis
and Mrs. Brande, who was a heavy load, lagged behind. The further
they journeyed, the steeper grew the precipices, the wilder the
scenery, the narrower the paths. At one place in the woods, high
above them, grazed a herd of so-called tame buffaloes—tame with
natives, wild with Europeans. The huge bull, with his hairy head and
enormous horns—though he carried a bell—was tame with no one!
Hearing strange voices below, he lifted up his hideous china-blue
eyes, stared fiercely about him, and then came crashing downhill for
some dozen yards, but his prey—Honor and her escort—had already
passed by, and were out of reach. He stood still in a meditative
attitude, and gave vent to an angry and disappointed bellow.
After a considerable interval, another group came into view. Mrs.
Brande’s gay jampannis and scarlet dandy rug settled the question.
In half a moment he had blundered through the undergrowth, and
placed himself in a warlike attitude upon the path—exactly six yards
ahead of the party. The unanimity with which Mrs. Brande’s bearers
dropped her, and fled up trees, was only equalled by the agility
displayed by the lady herself, in leaping out of the dandy and
scrambling down the khud! Nothing remained on the track but the
empty vehicle, the buffalo, and Jervis.
He promptly jumped off his pony, snatched up a jampanni’s pole,
on the end of which he raised the red rug, and boldly advanced like a
matador in the arena. When the bull lowered his ponderous head to
charge, he threw the rug over his horns with as much coolness and
dexterity as if he had merely to deal with a stuffed animal! But this
animal was dangerously animated. Rushing furiously forward, he
tumbled blindly over the dandy, and with a loud crash, rolled down
the khud, which, luckily for him (and Mrs. Brande) was not of sheer
descent. The lady’s piercing screams attracted the notice of her
niece, and—of what was far more to the purpose—the boy who was
in charge of the herd. Probably he had been fast asleep, but he now
came racing through the brushwood, routed up the buffalo, whose
fall had undoubtedly quenched his spirit, and drove him away, laden
with the hearty curses of the jampannis. These valiant gentlemen
had now descended to mother earth, as brave as lions. The rug was
in ribbons, the dandy in matchwood, but no one was injured. “What
was to be done?” inquired Captain Waring, vainly struggling to
preserve a grave countenance, as he saw Mrs. Brande, who
presented a truly distressing spectacle, emerging from the bushes,
on her hands and knees. The back of her dress was split right across
the shoulders, her veil hung round her neck, and she was covered
with sand and bits of twigs.
Mark had hastened to her assistance, and her niece, as she
picked up her topee and umbrella, asked anxiously “if she was hurt?”
“No,” she panted, sitting down and dusting herself with her
handkerchief, “I’m not a bit the worse.”
“But your dandy is in smithereens!” said Captain Waring. “What is
to be done?”
“I know what has been done. Young man,” solemnly addressing
herself to Jervis, “you saved my life, as sure as I sit here, and you
stand there. If you had not had the courage to throw the rug over his
head, he would have come down the khud, and gored me to death—
I’m not a woman of many words” (fond delusion) “but I won’t forget it
—nor will P.” In moments of unusual excitement, or when with her
intimates, she invariably spoke of her husband as “P.”
“Oh, Mrs. Brande,” he replied, “you think a great deal too much of
it—it was only a buffalo.”
“Only a buffalo!” she repeated. “You little know them; in another
minute I’d have been only a corpse. They are the most dangerous
brutes you can come across, and so cunning. Ha,” changing her
voice to another and sharper key, “Jait Sing, you base coward! I shall
cut every one’s pay two rupees. I’ve a mind to stop your wood
tickets. What a contrast to you,” she pointed her fat finger straight at
Jervis. “Lions, indeed, as all these Sings call themselves—pretty
lions—you are the bravest young man I ever saw!”
“Oh come, I say, Mrs. Brande,” expostulated Waring, playfully.
“You don’t know what I could do if I tried.”
“Well, as you did not try, I cannot say,” she answered dryly.
“It’s not such a marvellous feat, driving off an old buffalo——”
“Depends upon the humour the buffalo is in; and I’m surprised at
you belittling your own cousin, instead of being proud of him,”
pursued the lady with considerable heat, and entirely forgetting her
intended rôle with respect to this millionaire.
“How are you to get on, aunt?” inquired Honor; “but of course you
must go in my dandy and I can walk.”
“By no means, Miss Gordon; you shall ride my pony,” said Captain
Waring. “He has a grand roomy old saddle and a fine broad back,
and I will hold you from slipping off.”
To this arrangement Mrs. Brande (who had now recovered her
composure and her wits) saw no objection. Quite the contrary, it was
a capital idea. As for herself, she felt so shattered and so nervous,
that she could not allow Mr. Jervis out of her sight.
They were now within seven miles of Shirani, and oh! what
interminable miles—they seemed leagues—leagues of dreary
monotonous road, winding and twisting round barren fawn-coloured
hills, and apparently taking them straight into the very heart of Asia.
They wound up and down valleys, to the crest of a range, which hid,
as they fondly hoped, long-looked-for Shirani. Alas! it but gave them
a view of yet another valley—yet another rounded hill slope. Honor
was not surprised to hear that a lady of her aunt’s acquaintance, on
her first visit, had, after a series of these maddening
disappointments, collapsed on the journey, and given way to a storm
of hysterical tears. Sometimes Honor walked—walked by
preference, but at others, she mounted the pony in deference to her
chaperon’s wishes. She did not enjoy her ride, it consisted of a
gradual slide, slide, slide, a recover, then slide, slide, again. She
declined Captain Waring’s eagerly tendered arm—support was twice
as irksome as walking. Would this detestable road never, never,
come to an end?
Ah, there were the pine trees of Shirani at last! In another twenty
minutes, they were among them. As the little party debouched into
the mall, Mrs. Brande heading the procession, Honor bringing up the
rear, with Captain Waring leading her pony, they came face to face
with Mrs. Langrishe, walking with her most stately air, between a
soldierly looking man and a small, beautifully dressed, fair-haired
girl.
Yes, she could not have failed to notice and take in the full
significance of Mrs. Brande’s rentrée (indeed she and her rival had
exchanged bows), and dusty, hot, and thirsty, as that lady was, this
was one of the happiest and proudest moments of her life!
CHAPTER XVI.
A MESSAGE FROM MISS PASKE.

Although she had only caught a fleeting vision of Mrs. Brande’s


niece, Mrs. Langrishe had sharp eyes, and one glance had been
sufficient to assure her that the girl was not the least like what she
had expected. She was slim and dark, and, though covered with
dust, and wearing a frightful one rupee topee, undeniably a lady, and
not at all of the dairymaid type.
And how exultant the old woman had looked! Literally puffed out
with pride, as she was carried past, with the millionaire in close
attendance. Not that that detail was of the slightest consequence.
Lalla knew him intimately, and she would get her to write him a nice,
friendly little note, and ask him to drop in to tea.
Meanwhile Honor had been presented to her uncle, who, far from
being disappointed, was agreeably surprised to find that she was the
image of his favourite sister Hester, who had died when she was
eighteen. This resemblance (which he kept to himself) ensured the
new arrival an immediate entrée to her uncle’s good graces. And
Mrs. Brande, accustomed to his cool and rather cynical manner, was
amazed at the warmth of the reception he accorded to his hitherto
unknown niece.
For several days the young lady was kept at home in strict
seclusion, until her complexion had recovered the journey and her
boxes had arrived from the railway. Her aunt was determined not to
submit her treasure to the fierce gaze which beats upon a newly
arrived girl, until she was altogether at her best. She, however, could
not close her doors to numerous ladies who came to call upon Miss
Gordon, and thus secure an early and private view. Honor was
compelled to sit in state in a hideous drawing-room, where every
colour was shouting at another, and listen to her aunt telling visitors
how beautifully she played the fiddle, and what long hair she had,
and how she took threes in shoes, and how useful she was in the
house already. Also, she did not spare them full particulars of the
buffalo adventure, nor fail to sing loud praises of Mr. Jervis, or to
enlarge on his cousin’s agreeable escort and particular attentions en
route. Then Mrs. Brande discussed her servants and the outrageous
price of ghee and charcoal.
“Come, let us sit in the verandah,” whispered Mrs. Sladen, who
had read the girl’s expressive face. “You will get quite used to it,” she
continued, when they were outside; “you will do it yourself some day.
We all do; but you will have a very happy home here, in spite of the
price of potatoes! Your aunt is delighted with you, as you may see,
and you will soon have plenty of topics to discuss. She has been
lonely enough till now. She and Mr. Brande, although much attached
to one another, have few tastes in common. He is fond of literature,
and devoted to tennis and rackets; and although he is older, he is so
active that he seems years her junior. Your coming has given her a
fresh start and new pleasures. She is a dear, good woman, and as
single-hearted as a little child.”
Mrs. Sladen and Honor had taken to one another at once. Honor
had been down (after dusk) to Mrs. Sladen’s house—been
presented to Colonel Sladen, and shown the photographs of Mrs.
Sladen’s little girls—Charlotte and Mabel, and had heard their last
letters—a proof that she was in high favour with their mother. Honor
was not accustomed to sitting with her hands before her, and
promptly found occupation in various ways—she ran messages,
wrote notes and orders, arranged flowers, and ventured on
respectful suggestions with regard to the drawing-room, a fine
apartment, expensively furnished in the worst taste imaginable—a
supreme contrast to Mrs. Langrishe’s room, which was the prettiest
in Shirani. People little suspected how that leisurely lady dusted it
entirely herself, shook out draperies, arranged flowers, and washed
the china ornaments with her own delicate hands. Her room, as she
understood it, made an effective background for herself—and she
spared no pains to frame Ida Langrishe in the most becoming
fashion. The floor was covered with fine old prayer-rugs, the tables
were strewn with curios, the walls hung with valuable water colours,
and scattered at suitable intervals were inviting armchairs.
Ill-natured people assured one another that the Persian rugs,
carvings, and silver bowls were all so many offerings from “men.”
Even so Mrs. Langrishe would have been the first to admit,
“Presents to Granby and myself. Colonel Greene, a dear old thing,
brought us the carpet from Peshawar; and Mr. Goldhoofe sent those
silver things from Delhi. I must say that our friends never forget us.”
Mrs. Langrishe, as we know, had fully determined to hand over the
drawing-room to her niece, it would be such good practice for the
child, and really the flowers took up an hour every morning. She
would find many ways of making Lalla useful. But that young lady
steadily objected to these plans, she immediately made her aunt
aware that she considered herself merely ornamental. “Oh dear no!
she never arranged flowers, she had no taste in that line, and
besides, it would spoil her hands. Dust the drawing-room! dear Aunt
Ida must be joking; why, that was the bearer’s business. Get out the
dessert! oh!” with a peal of ringing laughter, “she was not to be
trusted. She would eat every chocolate, and all the best French
sweets!”
So whilst Mrs. Langrishe laboured, as usual, over her household
tasks, her fair niece, with a locked door, lay upon her bed, reading a
novel, tried new experiments in the hairdressing line, or wrote notes.
No, no; she had not come to Shirani to be a lady-help. She had
always heard that her aunt Ida was very clever; but, luckily, she had
her wits about her also!
During Honor Gordon’s period of enforced retirement, she went
early every morning for a solitary walk along a pretty sandy road,
that wound among the dark aromatic pine woods—a road with sharp
angles, and deep leafy ravines, green with ferns and ivy. It was early
in May, and the ground was strewn with pine-needles, which
deadened the footfall; the firs were thin and bare, and through their
dark branches she caught glimpses of the snows, that like a great
white rampart hung in mid-air, between a brilliant blue sky and an
opal-tinted mist. Honor enjoyed these rambles immensely, though
she rarely met a soul, save a syce exercising a horse, or an ayah
wheeling a perambulator. Her sole companion was “Ben,” who luckily
had “taken to her,” and with whom she had established relations of
such a friendly character, that she had actually been installed in the
unexpected position of his “aunt.”
Occasionally they made joint excursions down the khud, he in
search of the private larders of other dogs, she in quest of ferns and
moss for table decoration. Ben was a personage of such importance
at Rookwood that he demands half a chapter to himself. He was a
dog with fixed opinions, and hated Mrs. Langrishe—and one or two
other people—in the same degree that he hated cold boiled meat.
Sport was his passion, the chewing up of Suède gloves his
weakness. He was a fox-terrier with a history. As a pup, he had been
presented by a man to a girl, on the principle of “love me love my
dog,” but alas, the false maiden had loved neither the one nor the
other; she heartlessly jilted the man, and abandoned the dog to his
fate. However, her ayah (prudent soul) ere she went down the hill,
sold the pup to a bheestie for the sum of two annas (an ancient
debt), he happened to be Mrs. Brande’s servant, and was
excessively vain of his purchase, but left him most of the day tied by
a strip of pink calico to a conspicuous tree in her compound, where
he suffered him to “eat the air,” and but little else. Mrs. Brande, en
route to feed her well-to-do fowls, noticed the famishing animal; and
as she often threw him a crust, he naturally hailed her advent with
extravagant demonstrations of delight and feeble yelps of joy. Her
easily softened heart was touched by the raptures of the starving
puppy, and after some parley she bought him from the bheestie for
the sum he swore he had paid—to wit, ten rupees—in order to feed
him up and get him a good master. But Ben was thoroughly satisfied
with his present quarters, and soon made himself completely at
home. He displayed an easy intimacy with armchairs and cushions,
he had undoubtedly been accustomed to sweet biscuits and to good
society, and his mistress pointed out with just pride that he
understood English perfectly! Of course she eventually adopted
“Ben,” he made himself indispensable, he refused to be separated
from his patroness, and became her shadow, and soon ceased to be
a shadow himself. He grew from a dirty, starving, shivering whelp,
into an extremely handsome dog, with a fine gloss on his coat. Did
he ever remember his own evil days, as he lounged of an afternoon
sunning himself at the gate of Rookwood, and passed in scornful
review, curs less happy and of low degree? Are dogs snobs?
Whether snob or not, Ben was brave, he lowered his tail to none,
and when the big wild cat that created such havoc among the
poultry, went to ground under the messhouse, “Ben Brande,” as he
was called, was the only one of the assembled mob of terriers, who,
as a looker on expressed it, “was man enough to follow him, kill him,
and drag him out.” Ben Brande lost an eye thereby, but gained a
magnificent reputation.
Of course Ben was spoiled. His mistress talked to him incessantly;
he had his own little charpoy in her room, his morning tea in her
company, and now and then he was permitted to invite his pal
“Jacko,” a red terrier, to dine and spend the day! (Once they had
elected to spend it quietly in Mr. Brande’s dressing-room, where they
devoured several pairs of boots, a sponge-bag, and the back of
“Nancy.”) Ben escorted his mistress in her walks and drives. Many a
time she went out solely on his account, and it was an indisputable
fact that he had favourite roads, and his “grandmamma”—as the
infatuated lady called herself—always studied his wishes. On those
occasions when “his grandpapa and grandmamma” were dining
abroad, he never went to bed, but established himself at the
entrance until their return (however late), and passers-by could
always tell that the Brandes were at a “burra khana” when they saw
an upright little white figure sitting by the gatepost. Indeed it was
whispered, that the reason Mrs. Brande was always so early to
depart, was simply that she did not like to keep Ben waiting up! She
never said so, but every one knew that Ben was the real motive for
her premature departure. And this was the animal who now
accompanied Honor, and who had accorded her his patronage and
friendship. One morning, as they were strolling homewards, he with
a large stone in his mouth, and she carrying an armful of ferns, they
nearly came into collision with another couple—the angles were
abrupt—walking noiselessly on pine needles. They proved to be
Toby Joy, who was also attended by a dog, and sauntering along
hand-in-hand with a young lady, a dainty, white-skinned little person,
with fluffy light hair, small keen eyes, admirably arched brows and a
tip-tilted nose.
Honor was by far the most embarrassed of the trio, and blushed a
good healthy blush—of which she was heartily ashamed. Why
should not other people enjoy the delicious morning air? As to
walking hand-in-hand, she ought to be the last person to object; had
she not walked hand-in-hand herself with an absolute stranger?
“Good morning, Miss Gordon,” said Toby, slowly relinquishing Miss
Paske’s fingers, and doffing his cap. “So you have got up here all
right in spite of the buffalo! Let me introduce you to Miss Paske.”
The girls bowed, and looked at one another gravely.
“We are getting up that burlesque I told you about, and have come
out early to study our part together.”
“How praiseworthy of you,” said Honor, in simple good faith. “And
what is the piece to be?”
“The Babes in the Wood,” responded Miss Paske with an odd
smile, and looking Honor over with her bright little eyes. “Don’t you
think it will be suitable to the dear simple people at Shirani?”
“I really don’t know,” replied the other, with a puzzled face.
“Well, I hope you will come to see it,” and with a patronizing nod
she moved on. But Ben and Jumbo (Mrs. Langrishe’s dog) were not
disposed to part thus! The household feud had evidently extended to
them. They had been tiptoeing round one another for some time,
with considerable stiffness in their gait, emitting low and insulting
growls, that now culminated in a sort of gurgling snarl, as they flew at
one another’s throats. Miss Paske gave a little stifled shriek, and
scrambled hastily up the bank, whilst Honor and Toby made
desperate attempts to separate the combatants. They each caught
hold of a dog by whatever came first, leg or tail; but the dogs refused
to be parted, and to and fro, and up and down, they struggled and
scrambled in a mutual frenzy. Meanwhile, Lalla, who was now at a
safe elevation, actually appeared delighted at the performance, and
laughed and clapped her hands ecstatically. At last, by the expedient
of pouring sand on their heads, the dogs were choked off, and each
side was bottle-holder to a furious, panting, struggling animal.
“I think we had better separate at once,” gasped Honor, who only
restrained Ben with the greatest difficulty.
“Yes, the sooner the better,” agreed Toby, who was also wrestling
with an eager armful.
As Honor turned homewards, with Ben hanging longingly over her
shoulder, Miss Paske, who had tripped down from her coign of
’vantage, called after her, in her sweetest, clearest tones—
“Be sure you tell Mrs. Brande, that her dog got the worst of it.”

END OF VOL. I.

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON


AND BECCLES.
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation errors/omissions have been fixed.
Page 21: “you have jus” changed to “you have just”
Page 246: “Grandby and myself” changed to “Granby and myself”
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