Hmong Sexual Diversity: Beginning the Conversation

In this paper, we describe a participatory workshop we facilitated on the diversity of Hmong sexualities and sexual norms – including our preparation leading up to the workshop and a summary of what we learned – at the 2015 Hmong National Development conference, which marked the 40th year that Hmong have been in the U.S. We also describe our positionalities and stakes in the matter as they helped to frame discussion. Topics discussed during the workshop included the “repressive” construction of “Hmong culture,” gender inequalities, desirability, sexual mores, LGBTQ identities and homoeroticism, virginity, sex acts and pornography. Participants engaged in lively conversation about issues of marriage, reproduction, hookups, sexual play, age and generation, sex education, and exclusion versus tolerance, amply underscoring the multiplicity of viewpoints that are represented among Hmong Americans. Finally, we raise the need for more community dialogues and more in-depth academic inquiry into Hmong sexualities.