A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:
My guest on this episode of Talking Taiwan is Amazin LeThi, a global LGBTQIA+ advocate and one of the first Asian LGBTQ ambassadors for WorldPride at Copenhagen 2021. She reached out to me not long after hearing that Taiwan would be hosting WorldPride 2025.
She spoke with me about the challenges she’s faced as an Asian and LGBTQ youth, and how her sports training and deep sense of purpose helped to pull her out of homelessness.
About Amazin LeThi:
Amazin LêThi was born in Saigon where she was left in an orphanage by her mother. Amazin was bullied constantly as a young child because of her ethnicity and sexuality and it was because of this she went into bodybuilding at the tender age of 6 going onto become a competitive natural bodybuilder in her teens then qualifying as a strength and conditioning coach.
As a young adult, she was homeless for a number of years and it was at this lowest point, contemplating suicide, Amazin realized her passion and love for sport could help her survive. Gaining physical and mental strength and confidence, from her personal journey of homelessness and against all the odds she has overcome enormous barriers to become one of the most visible and influential leading global rainbow (LGBTQIA+) advocate in the world. She is also a TV/Film star, entertainment executive and the first Vietnamese internationally published health and fitness author.
Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:
- Why Amazin travels so much
- What it means to Amazin personally that WorldPride will be hosted in East Asia for the first time in 2025
- Her struggles growing up in a predominantly white culture after being adopted from Vietnam
- What is has been like for her to re-connect with her Asian identity and visit Vietnam
- How WorldPride 2021 was held in 2 cities, Copanhagen and Malmö
- It was the first time that WorldPride and Eurogames coincided
- How many of the WorldPride 2021 events were held virtually
- How COVID has impacted Amazin personally
- Amazin’s thought on the prevalence of Asian Hate
- What advice she has for the WorldPride 2025 Taiwan team
- How she ended up homeless and what that was like being homeless
- How she had a mental breakdown as she tried to get out of homelessness
- Amazin’s struggle with mental health
- What people can do about homelessness
- The importance of having a sense of purpose in life
- How sports have helped her to be more resilient
- The high percentage of Asian LGBTQ youth that become homeless
- How Amazin was not able to be “out” in the world of bodybuilding
- The Amazin LeThi Foundation
- How 10 states in the United States have banned transgender and nonbinary kids from playing sports
- The work that Amazin does and how she’s worked with President Obama and President Biden
- What Amazin is currently working on
- Amazin’s Olympic ambitions
Related Links:
Amazin LeThi’s website: https://www.amazinlethi.com/
Amazin LeThi’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AmazinLethi/
Amazin LeThi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/amazinlethi
Amazin LeThi on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amazinlethi/
WorldPride 2021: https://copenhagen2021.com/worldpride/
EuroGames 2021: https://copenhagen2021.com/eurogames/
States Restricting How Transgender Students Play Sports (an article from U.S. News and World Report): https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2021-12-01/these-states-restrict-how-transgender-students-participate-in-school-sports
Taiwan Chosen to Host WorldPride 2025 (an article from The Advocate): https://www.advocate.com/world/2021/11/13/kaohsiung-taiwan-chosen-host-worldpride-2025
Taiwan selected to host WorldPride 2025 (an article from Focus Taiwan): https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202111140009
When the Body Says No: https://amzn.to/3ERJx8y