Jina grew up in a repressive Atlanta suburb with a strict Korean American home. As a young person she struggled with communicating her true vibrant personality until she went to an arts summer camp. There, Jina made a life-long best friend who showed her a new way of being through living life colorfully and fearlessly queer.
Years later, at 33, her friend was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer & Jina moved home to be a part of her support team. During this time, Jina found careful, quiet ways to let her friend know how much she meant to her through art like Alexander Chee’s essay “After Peter”, a tribute to preserving the legacy of people who died from AIDS..
After her best friend’s passing Jina’s life was irrevocably changed. Jina started to memorialize her friend in ways big and small, including honoring her late friend’s fearlessness by finally coming out to her mother and working to grow their relationship. Though her friend feared that after her death her legacy would disappear, Jina and her loved ones are working to make sure her friend’s fierce story becomes a permanent part of queer herstory.
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