Xue Xiong
Joy of Being Featured Storyteller
To me, Joy of Being is the whole human experience. All the good, bad, scary, everything that comes with it.
Xue is a Hmong American community organizer and education professional who was born and raised in Saint Paul's Battle Creek neighborhood and now lives in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. The son of Hmong immigrants, he grew up within the Latter-day Saints Church, where family, faith, and traditional expectations played important roles in shaping his early life. During college, Xue began openly embracing his queer identity, navigating the challenges of coming out while building a life grounded in authenticity and self-acceptance. Professionally, he works with Burlington English, supporting adult education programs, ESL teachers, and immigrant learners throughout Minnesota.
Outside of his professional work, Xue helps organize queer BIPOC social gatherings in the Twin Cities alongside his partner, Alex. These gatherings provide opportunities for LGBTQ+ people of color to build friendships, share experiences, and develop a sense of community and belonging. As a participant in In Progress's Joy of Being project, Xue reflects on the importance of family, healing, chosen community, and the beauty found in everyday human experiences.
Podcast
THE FREEDOM TO BE
Finding acceptance, building chosen family, and celebrating the beauty of being yourself
Xue shares his experience growing up Hmong and queer within a family and religious community shaped by traditional expectations. He reflects on coming out, navigating difficult conversations with his parents, and finding healing through time, understanding, and renewed relationships. Through his involvement in organizing queer BIPOC gatherings in the Twin Cities, Xue also explores the importance of friendship, chosen family, and creating spaces where people can feel welcomed, connected, and free to be themselves.
Portraits
Friendship is really important to me in making these connections, and it just makes me happy to host these spaces, create these spaces for people who are just like me who wanted to build their community or make it bigger.
I'm happy that the people in my life love me, for my sexuality, for who I am. And I keep those people around me
My parents told me that it was okay, that there was nothing to be ashamed of, that they still loved me for who I was.
I took time away from my parents after I came out to them. I needed that time. I needed to set boundaries to just process their reaction and for me to feel how I felt about that.
I think it's freeing to be who I am to people.
This activity is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund, MN State Arts Board GEneral Operating Program, and the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council. Additional thanks to the McKnight Foundation who has continually supported arts learning and professional development opportunities for artists in Saint Paul and Crookston Minnesota.