Mia’s Mission

Mia Yamamoto has seen it all. She was born in an incarceration camp during World War II. At age 60 she came out as transgender after a 20-year career as a criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles. At age 78, Mia shows no signs of slowing down. We follow her mission throughout the years to rally communities of color around issues of racism and to bring visibility to the LGBTQ community. Her passion is rooted in her deep ties to the geography of Los Angeles and the neighborhoods she calls home.

Jireh (they/them) is a queer Taiwanese/Hong Konger American poet and journalist born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley. Their words appear in The Los Angeles Times, NPR, The Rumpus, Asian American Writers’ Workshop and more. This is their first short documentary produced with the support of AAJA’s VOICES which seeks to highlight the story of an Asian American elder in the LGBTQ community.