The poet, Lehua Taitano, holds a basket of paper slips. She speaks to the audience.
Ms. Taitano comes from around the podium and holds out a basket for a young child. The girl picks out a slip of paper.
Ms. Taitano takes the paper from the girl and looks it over.
The girl reaches in the basket again.
She hands the paper slip to Ms. Taitano.
The girl nods.
Ms. Taitano retrieves the microphone from the stand and hands it to the girl.
The girl grasps the microphone.
Little Betty nods, and Ms. Taitano hugs her around the shoulder.
Betty scampers back to her seat.
Ms. Taitano looks at the paper slip one more time.
She presses a button on the microphone and moves away. On a giant screen, the video appears. Ms. Taitano recites her poem, accompanied by short video clips, one after the other, that illustrate the experience of queer Asian or Pacific Islanders.
Text, "Queer Check-ins. Lehua Taitano."
Ms. Taitano comments about the video transmission.
Video clips play as she recites. "Queer Check-ins." Lehua Taitano. The poet swims in the ocean under water. She wears sunglasses in a tropical setting. The bright sun breaks through shifting, swirling clouds. Reeds of wheat sway in the wind. The poet as a young girl. Seagulls dance on water. A bee sips nectar from a flower. Beachgoers wade in the ocean. A fish moves through water in a tank. Near the ocean, five young people dance. The poet on the shore in a hoodie and sunglasses. An eel swims near the ocean floor. The poet, laying on a hardwood floor, plays a ukulele.
Logo, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.