Las Vegas ‘always glowing’: A Q&A with a local LGBT group director

Born and raised in Hawaii, Ernie Yuen made his way to Las Vegas to be a horticultural supervisor in the conservatory and botanical garden at the then-newly opened Bellagio.

While working in the community, he decided to get involved with the Southern Nevada Association of Pride. Yuen has been a part of the group’s executive board for the past 12 years and was named its executive director in November.

With the Las Vegas Pride Parade and Pride Festival set for Sept. 18 and 19, Yuen talks about his experiences with the city and the LGBT community.

Review-Journal: What has been your experience with culture in Las Vegas?

Yuen: It really doesn’t have any culture. I think as a whole it tries its best to bring culture to the city. It has done so by bringing things like The Smith Center. But Las Vegas is basically a camping town.

Review-Journal: What do you think is the most underrated factor about this city?

Yuen: I would say it is probably the quality of people that live here. Las Vegas is considered to be a transient city. People come and go by the thousands. They move in and out. Because of that, people tend not to be as friendly at the beginning because they never know if they’re gonna be here in six months.

A lot of people say it’s hard to make friends or find a soulmate, boyfriend or girlfriend. So, they focus on making it big and fulfilling whatever dreams they have and what this city could bring them.

Review-Journal: Do you have a favorite part of Las Vegas?

Yuen: It’s always glowing and always changing. It’s always evolving. Things are changing in the city.

Review-Journal: How would you describe the gay community in Las Vegas and how it might differ from other cities?

Yuen: Like the rest of the city, it is very transient community. You have your people that planted their roots here and plan to stay. But you have those who are career focused. You have a younger generation chasing a dream of becoming a dancer on the Strip or a world famous DJ. They are here to make a quick buck. As you know, it is not an easy city to do that in.

Review-Journal: How did Las Vegas Pride come about and why is it celebrated at a different time than other cities?

Yuen: It’s 33 years old now. Like any other city, it has evolved. …

It takes a group of volunteers with passion. A group that wants to do something for the community to help it celebrate pride.

We used to celebrate it in May. But we found there were so many events going on in May that the community was inundated with activities. So we decided that we wanted to be a closing Pride or later than all our sister Pride (festivals). Plus, the temperature is a little better in September.

Review-Journal: What makes Las Vegas Pride different than other cities?

Yuen: I think the main thing that makes it different is the parade is at night. At other festivals, it’s normally during the day. The festival is very community focused, and at other Pride festivals, it is entertainment focused. We can’t compete with the Strip, where you can go down and get entertained by a big headliner. Our focus is not entertainment driven like other Prides are.

Review-Journal: Do you have a favorite part of the festival?

Yuen: I like the parade because it’s different at night and our city is very pretty at night.

Review-Journal: Whether it is with the Pride festival or community outreach, one observation about the LGBT community, here and in many other cities, that I’ve heard is that there is a lack of inclusion for the transgender community. Is that a sentiment you have heard or dealt with in Las Vegas?

Yuen: The subject of transgender is a hot topic and also an extremely complicated topic. It’s always changing, evolving. We are trying to include the transgender community and trying to get them be involved.

Review-Journal: What are the solutions? Are transgender people being brought into the fold?

Yuen: When you build a bridge, you have two sides. In order for things to work, both sides need to meet in the middle. For this, you might need to get a transgender person’s point of view to dig deep into their mind. But Pride is inclusive. We included everyone. But we are not gonna force you. If you feel you’re not gonna be treated well or not wanna participate that’s based on you not wanting to come. That’s not us.

Review-Journal: There are many things the LGBT community can celebrate — take pride in — this year with some progress that has been made. What are some things that the LGBT community still needs to fight for?

Yuen: We got the whole marriage thing down. Now we are going back and talking about transgender rights and fighting for more equal rights for gay women. Making sure they are compensated equally. We are reaching out in the transgender community, trying to get stronger community representation. We are still facing a fear of being discriminated (against) and a fear of not knowing what’s going to happen to us.

Contact reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5201. Find him on Twitter: @mjlyle