Reporter
In Asian American families, where the subject of sex is particularly taboo and parents may lack sex education themselves, discussions about sex are less likely to happen. Reporter Thy Vo set out to document the consequences for young Asian Americans.
"It's a common experience among many Asian American families — skillfully avoiding the topic of sex until absolutely necessary, which is often too late," reporter Thy Vo writes in part two of her series on discussions of sexuality in Asian American families.
In the years after coming out to his family as a teen, Lotus Dao felt alienated from them. Lacking support, he began abusing cocaine and alcohol, and struggled with an eating disorder. His story is not uncommon in a community that does not openly discuss sex and gender, Thy Vo reports.
Sexual health and reproduction are not openly discussed in the Vietnamese family beyond discouraging premarital sex, and there are few resources to help families navigate the challenges of a cross-generational, cross-cultural "sex talk."
