Chinese Media Changing Its Tune on Same-Sex Marriage

Four years after their marriage right was vetoed four to three in the California Supreme Court, this June, Helen Zia and Lia Shigemuras wedding became front-page news once more in local Chinese newspapers.

Zia, an award-winning journalist, editor and author, was among the members of a same-sex partnership to file a declaration in 2004 in support of the City Attorney's constitutional challenge to state marriage laws that discriminate against lesbian and gay couples. Lia Shigemura has also been a prominent voice in San Francisco's Asian American and Japanese American community. Zia's mother, Beilin Woo Ziawho also filed a declaration in the case to support marriage equality, was on hand for the ceremony. The 79-year-old retiree immigrated to the United States from Shanghai, China in 1949.

A journalist and scholar who has covered Asian American communities and social and political movements for decades, Helen Zia never fails to impress both mainstream and ethnic media by her consistent effort and deep commitment. She is the author of Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People.

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