Lunar New Year / Spring Banquet 2008

Updated 4/8/08:  This event is SOLD-OUT!!!

Thank you all for the tremendous interest in this year’s Lunar New Year Banquet. Individual and Senior/Student tickets are SOLD OUT!!!

Only 10 Sponsor level tickets are left.

The remaining sponsor tickets will be sold on a first come first serve basis. As a sponsor, you get VIP Reception access to come rub elbows with Jenny Shimizu and get early seating.

If you are interested in these final 10 Sponsor tickets, please contact us directly at

Read the awesome article in the B.A.R. (published on April 3rd)

This year’s entertainment is loaded with LOTS of FUN !!

Celebrity Emcee:
Jenny Shimizu

The Phoenix Award is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Asian American Pacific Islander Queer Women and Transgender Community. We are honored this year to present the Phoenix Award to Trinity Ordoña and Desiree Thompson. Trinity A. Ordoña, the middle child of post-WWII Filipino immigrant family, has a 40-year history of civil rights activism in people of color communities. In the Asian and Pacific Islander lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people’s community, she has co-founded several local, national and international community organizations promoting identity, community and family reconciliation. Trinity received her Ph.D. based on her doctoral research, Coming Out Together: An Ethnohistory of the Asian and Pacific Islander Queer Women’s and Transgendered People’s Movement of San Francisco (2000) and now teaches teaches courses on history, culture, politics, social movements, sexuality, ethnicity, health and relationships as it relates to communities of color and APLBTQ people. Trinity has published widely and given numerous interviews, lectures, talks, workshops and seminars in community and academic venues across the U.S. and in Canada, Japan, India and the Philippines. Trinity is now an ordained minister and works with survivors of sexual violence, teaching self-healing meditation and facilitating access to non-discursive healing modalities from Western and Eastern healing traditions for underserved and marginalized racial, ethnic, and sexual minority populations. Last month, Trinity was named among the “20 Most Influential Lesbian Professors” by Curve, the premier national lesbian magazine. Trinity and her life partner, Desiree, have been happily married for 20 years. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii of a sansei (3rd generation) mother and Native Hawaiian father, Desiree Anela Naomi Thompson came out as a lesbian when she was a Women’s Studies major in college in 1977. Her Houghtailing Street household in Kalihi was a popular hangout for “local” (born and raised in Hawaii) lesbians who gathered to play music, dance hula, and socialize away from the preying eyes of their families. Desiree met and fell in love with Trinity and moved to San Francisco 1987 and they have been happily married since 1988. Desiree has shared her personal and social experiences as an API lesbian in writings and interviews in Ceremonies of the Heart: Celebrating Lesbian Unions (1990), The Very Inside: An Anthology of Writing by Asian and Pacific Islander Lesbian and Bisexual Women (1994), and In Search of Gay America: Women and Men in a Time of Change (1989). Over the years, their 18th St. San Francisco house has been the welcome site for many local, national and international APLBTQ people who joined them for socials, meetings, fundraisers, weddings, anniversary celebrations and post-Gay Parade after-parties. Des is now looking forward to her retirement from the U.S. Post Office in 2010 after 30 years of service. Thank you Trinity and Desiree!   Fabulous Community Performance:

Aimee Suzara  -Read Bio- Oakland-based Filipino-American writer / performer / educator through poetry, aimeesuzara.net

RyuQ Murasaki Daiko
Come and see this fantastic Okinawan drumming group which opens up our line of performances
-Read Bio-

Shayle Matsuda  -Read Bio- An amazing musician in San Francisco

Rice Kings  -Read Bio-
The Bay Area’s up & coming A/PI drag king troupe extraordinaire soon to invade your wildest (and dorkiest) dreams.

DJ Toro  -Read Bio-
DJ Toro spins hip-hop, r&b and old skool classics…

Silent Auction
Raffle Prize Drawings
And More!!

Free commemorative mugs will be given out!
(This year’s design is top secret! Come and find out.)

Time:
Saturday, April 12, 2008

Come early – Open Seating

Location:

House of Banquet
939 Clement St
(between 10th & 11th Ave.)
San Francisco, CA
(415) 221-9888

Click restaurant
name to the website

Price:

Since space is limited, reservation is guaranteed by check only. Please send in your RSVP form soon and all checks are non-refundable after April 4.

SPONSOR — This year, consider being a Silver, Gold, or Platinum Sponsor!  All sponsors will enjoy access to priority seating. Avoid the line and the rush.

Plus! Sponsors will be recognized for their generous support in the banquet program under the “Thank You Sponsors” section. Of course if you chose to be an anonymous sponsor, we would gladly honor your wish.

Earth Rat Sponsor        $450 (table seats 10 adults)
Platinum Sponsor         $200 (name listed on poster & website)
Gold Sponsor               $100 (name listed on poster & website)
Silver Sponsor              $75 (name listed on poster & website)

Individuals                    $45

Children 3-13yrs           $15
Children under 3yrs      FREE

Seniors/Students          $25 (Please present ID at the door)

PAYMENT:

Updated 4/8/08:
This event is SOLD-OUT!!!  No more registration please. Thanks!!!

Due to many requests, we are excited to offer online registration and payment this year. So, if you hardly ever write checks these days and can’t find your checkbook or if you’d like to rack up some frequent flier points on your credit card, try out our new online registration and PayPal payment method. Note that there is a 4% handling fee to cover the added costs for these services.

To summarize, there are three ways to register for the banquet:

OPTION 1:  Fill out a blank registration form by hand and mail in with your check (there is no handling fee for this service).

Just download and fill out the RSVP form, make your check payable to “API Banquet“, and mail to:

API Banquet
238 Ansel Avenue
Alameda, CA 94501

OPTION 2:  Fill out a registration form online and mail your check (there is a 4% handling fee for this service) to the address above.

We are full – Not available any more…
OPTION 3:  Fill out a registration form online and pay by PayPal (there is a 4% handling fee for this service).

Menu:

Egg Rolls, Potstickers & Jellyfish
Steamed Sole Fish
Vegetarian Delight Soup
Singapore Noodle
Mongolian Beef
Cashew Chicken
Salt & Pepper Tofu
Sesame Balls
Honey Glazed Walnut Prawns
Hot Red Bean Soup
Buddha Delight (Vegetarian)
Beverages
Additional Info:

– Wheelchair accessible
– We will make all efforts to accommodate special requests.
– On-street parking
– Accessible by Muni Bus Lines:
#2 on Clements
#28 on Park Presidio
#38 on Geary
#44 on 6th Ave.

Contact:

For general inquiries and confirmation, please email us at with subject ‘API Banquet’.

Volunteers are welcome. To volunteer for the banquet, please contact Ginny Eng at with subject ‘API Banquet’. A limited number of scholarships are available for volunteers.

Performer’s Bios

Shayle Matsuda

Shayle is rockin’ out in San Francisco these days. Originally from the Chicago area, Shayle spends her days slinging coffee, exploring the bay area, and trying to figure out what to do next. Alone with her guitar, her catchy melodies and heart wrenching lyrics let you know exactly what’s on her mind.

Other projects that she’s been fortunate to be a part of include the Santa Cruz all girl rock band Tenth of Always, and the less known, but incredibly hilarious S & M. She’s had the pleasure of opening for many talented and wonderful artists, her most favorite and memorable being the Infinite X’s and Pamela Means.

Aimee Suzara

Oakland-based Filipino-American writer/performer/educator Aimee Suzara uses poetry, theatre and movement to explore themes of home, migration and the body. Her play, Pagbabalik (Return), was awarded the Zellerbach Community Arts Grant in 2006 and 2007 and she has been published in the NAACP-nominated Check the Rhyme: an Anthology of Female Poets and Emcees (Lit Noire, 2007) and in several journals. Her poetry chapbook, the space between, will be published by Finishing Line Press in 2008. She has been a member of the Queer Pin@y collective, Kreatibo, whose play, Dalagas and Tomboys: A Family Affair was selected for Curve Magazine’s Lesbian Theatre Award. Recognizing her role on the continuum of Filipino-American, queer, women of color, and literary histories, Suzara aims to inspire current and future generations to tell their own stories. www.aimeesuzara.net

DJ Toro

DJ Toro spins hip-hop, r&b and old skool classics. With Restless Produxns, Toro worked the wheels of steel for Sweet Sessions in NYC (positive space for queer POC). Nowadays when she’s not extolling the genius of Mariah Carey or pondering the relative merits of keeping her record collection up to date, she’s with the Dream EZ crew every second Wednesday at Lucky Lounge in Oakland. No cover…so swing by for a mellow groove.

Rice King

From the sizzling Thai rap underground, the sugary sweet Vietnamese cafés, and the humid bordellos of Manila… comes Big Daddy, Dang Kinki, and Tito RayRay Pansit on my Face. Together, they are a steaming hot and tasty bowl of goodness known as The Rice Kings – the Bay Area’s up and coming A/PI drag king troupe extraordinaire soon to invade your wildest (and dorkiest) dreams. www.thericekings.com  and for more info:

RyuQ Murasaki Daiko

From the Ryukyu Islands (more commonly known as Okinawa) comes the dynamic art form of eisa that combines singing, drumming and dancing.
With energetic style, the Bay Area’s only all queer women’s eisa
drumming group – RyuQ Murasaki Daiko perform together to celebrate
pride, joy and the human spirit. Come join us as we turn, jump, lunge,
bang on drums and sing all at the same time!

For web site administrative inquires or to advertise online:

Last Update on April 5, 2008