AMAZIN LE THI

Amazin Le Thi is a former bodybuilder and is an ambassador for sports equality as well as the LGBTQI Asian community

 

You’ve just become the first Asian and Asian LGBTQI ambassador for Sporting Heritage. What does Sporting Heritage do and what does your role involve?

Sporting Heritage is a charity that’s working specifically to support the collection, preservation, access, and research of sporting heritage in the UK and wider. I will be working with them to raise the profile of hidden or lost sporting heritage collections, particularly from the East Asian and LGBTQ+ communities. I also supported their National Sporting Heritage Day on 30 September this year along with working on other special sports projects that we are planning together over the next year.

You were also the first East Asian LGBTQI Ambassador for Pride House Commonwealth Games 2022. What was it like being one of the Pride House Birmingham ambassadors?

It was amazing to be the first East Asian LGBTQI sports ambassador and for the first time champion LGBQTI sports equality for the Asian community around the Commonwealth Games and in Birmingham, the 2nd most diverse city outside of London. It was such a great opportunity to engage the community around Asian LGBTQI inclusion in sports because it’s also about the legacy we want to leave behind for the host country the UK, to inspire ethnic and LGBTQI communities to participate in sports and see their own stories reflected back through Pride House and continuing this conversation into the next Commonwealth Games in 2026 in Victoria, Australia.

As an athlete have you encountered any homophobic attitude in the world of sports? And if so, what can be done to counter it?

When I competed as a bodybuilder I found the sport and federation very unfriendly and not welcoming towards the LGBTQI community, it was impossible to be openly out as a competitive athlete in the sport. Sports federations need to have anti-discrimination policies that include gender identity and sexuality along with education within the sporting community to be accepting of the LGBTQI community and the importance of allyship. Storytelling also plays a major part with out LGBTQI athletes sharing their stories and allies standing up and supporting the community.

Do you think there are challenges which particularly face the Asian LGBTQI+ community?

It’s still very difficult to be openly out in the Asian community due to cultural challenges and expectations from family. There is also a lack of Asian LGBTQI representation in the media, sports and the entertainment industry which

On a personal and a professional level what has been your proudest achievement to date?

My goal as a child was to always make an impact through the power of sports though I could have never have imagined the impact I have made through sport with all my achievements such as being recognized by over 20 organisations including being listed annually on the Pride lists, working with the White House as part of the Team Biden campaign as one of the Asian & LGBTQI digital advisors, and becoming the only Asian LGBTQI athlete in the world to hold so many sports ambassador roles. On top of all my achievements I’m most proud of the fact that I accomplished my childhood goal and have had the opportunity to travel the world and advice and be a keynote speaker to governments, Fortune 500 companies and organisations to champion equality through the lens of sports. Personally I’m so thankful that I was able to get to a place in my life where I can show up everyday as my authentic self and be openly out in sports because I never thought that was possible as a child and when I competed in bodybuilding.

Where would you like the LGBTQI+ community and its place in the world be in ten years’ time?

I want our place in the world to reflect the rest of society where we have full equality in every area of our lives without fear of violence or discrimination and all Trans and non-binary athletes and youth to have access to sports like anyone else without any form of exclusions. We have been fighting for these rights for 50 years within the LGBTQIA movement since the Stonewall Riots and the basic human rights we have been fighting for have rolled back these last few years.

Who is your hero/ heroine?

I’ve always been inspired by Margaret Cho as she was the first queer Asian person I saw represented in the media and in that moment I realised I could be my authentic self. It’s a revolutionary act when you see a reflection of yourself in someone else and up until that moment I’d never seen any representation of a queer Asian person in the media.