June Chan

Chan was born on June 6, 1956, in Lower Manhattan to parents who worked in New York City's Chinatown.{{Sfn|Henry|1995|p=32}} Chan's mother was a refugee from the Japanese invasion of China.{{Sfn|Henry|1995|p=33}} Chan attended the Bronx High School of Science and graduated in 1973.{{Sfn|Henry|1995|p=32}} She went on to earn her bachelor's degree in biology at the City College of New York in 1977.{{Sfn|Henry|1995|p=32}} Chan earned her master's degree in biology from the State University of New York at Buffalo.{{Sfn|Henry|1995|p=32}} After graduate school, she came out to her family, which was a mostly positive experience.{{Sfn|Henry|1995|p=32}} Chan also works in research on neurobiology.{{Sfn|Henry|1995|p=32}}

Chan and Katherine Hall met in 1983 and began working on projects together. They created a slide show of Asian lesbians in history and literature which was presented in the 1980s.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hfr7Us7PhGkC&pg=PA162|title=Daring to Find Our Names: The Search for Lesbigay Library History|last=Carmichael Jr.|first=James Vinson|publisher=Praeger|year=1998|isbn=978-0313299636|page=162}}{{Cite web |last=Wilkinson |first=Willie |title=Out, Loud, and Seen: The Asian and Pacific Islander Lesbian and Bisexual Women's Movement Past and Present |url=https://www.cla.purdue.edu/waaw/corinne/Wilkinson.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023232242/http://www.cla.purdue.edu/WAAW/corinne/Wilkinson.htm |archive-date=23 October 2013 |access-date= |website=Women Artists of the American West}} Their slide show was considered "grassroots scholarship" by Polly Thistlethwaite.{{Sfn|Thistlethwaite|1998|p=3}}

Also in 1983, Chan and Hall formed the Asian Lesbians of the East Coast (ALOEC) in response to the overly white and male demographics of the LGBT community at the time.{{Sfn|Henry|1995|p=32}} ALOEC conducted workshops and published newsletters. ALOEC took part in the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.{{Sfn|Henry|1995|p=33}} During the process of organizing the march, Chan connected with other Asian-American lesbian groups.{{Sfn|Henry|1995|p=33}} These groups and ALOEC formed the Asian Pacific Lesbian Network (later called the Asian Pacific Bi-Sexual Lesbian Network).{{Sfn|Henry|1995|p=33}} In 1994, ALOEC participated in the 25th commemoration of the Stonewall riots.{{Sfn|Henry|1995|p=33}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite book|title=Notable Asian Americans|last=Henry|first=Jim|publisher=Gale Research, Inc.|year=1995|isbn=9780810396234|editor-last=Zia|editor-first=Helen|chapter=June Chan|editor-last2=Gall|editor-first2=Susan B.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780810396234}}
• {{Cite journal|url=http://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_pubs/32|title=An Activist's Guide to Lesbian History: A Companion to the Video Not Just Passing Through|last=Thistlethwaite|first=Polly|journal=Publications and Research |publisher=CUNY Academic Works|year=1998}}
• {{cite web|title=Not Just Passing Through|url=https://archive.org/details/NotJustPassingThrough|access-date=19 January 2018|date=1994}}

• {{cite book |last1=Tyrkus |first1=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/gaylesbianbiogra0000unse |title=Gay & Lesbian Biography |date=1997 |publisher=St. James Press |location=Detroit}}

• [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/5e66b3e8-6c73-d471-e040-e00a180654d7 Mariana combing June's hair (Mariana Romo-Carmona and June Chan)] photograph at the NYPL Digital Collections

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Category:Living people

Category:1956 births

Category:American LGBTQ rights activists

Category:Writers from New York City

Category:City College of New York alumni

Category:University at Buffalo alumni

Category:Activists from New York City