From Refugee Family to Finding Home

A vintage photograph of a young man and woman smiling, with their heads close together, wearing light-colored shirts in what appears to be an indoor setting.
A woman holding a baby on her lap, sitting on a striped armchair in a room with wood-paneled walls.
A young shirtless boy with dark hair stands in a living room, smiling at the camera. Behind him is an old television with static on the screen, a small shelf with a globe, a bookcase, and a closed door. There is also a desktop lamp and a decorative figurine of a dog on a side table.

"After years of searching, I found a home in San Francisco. Now I'm fighting so everyone else can too."

Michael Nguyen's parents fled authoritarianism in Vietnam and met in a refugee camp at Eglin Air Force Base in Pensacola, Florida. Michael was born in Chicago, and his family moved constantly throughout his childhood—Harvey, Louisiana; Concord, California; Lawrenceville, Georgia; Cary, North Carolina; Plano, Texas. Growing up, home was always temporary, stability always just out of reach.

A person dressed as a woman with blonde curly hair, wearing a red dress, singing into a microphone on stage.
A drag queen dressed in a gold outfit standing on a stage with a large paper airplane prop. The drag queen is smiling, wearing big earrings, a crown, and has red hair.
A performer on stage dressed in a black dress with white polka dots, wearing a large, purple, curly wig, singing with arms outstretched against a backdrop of golden lights.

Finding Home in GAPA

Michael has always been drawn to songs about finding home. In 2016, competing for the Miss GAPA title, his runway theme was an intergalactic journey—he'd been lost in space, flying around in his X-wing fighter searching for home. He sang "Home" from The Wiz. The message: he found his home in GAPA, in San Francisco's QTAPI community. As drag performer Juicy Liu, he's since performed a mashup of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Home" from The Wiz multiple times—including at Oasis Nightclub for Sister Roma's birthday.

Oasis, a legendary drag club, is closing at the end of 2025. We're losing our LGBTQ+ nightlife venues and entertainment spaces—the very places where community is built, where art is created, where people like Michael found home. This isn't just about nightlife; it's about the soul of San Francisco disappearing one closed venue at a time.

As a member of the Gay Men's Chorus of San Diego, Golden Gate Men's Chorus, and San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, Michael kept singing about searching for a place where he could belong. In 2004, he marched in his first Pride Parade with the San Diego chorus. Days later, inspired by the courage it took to be visible, he came out to his parents.

Miss GAPA 2016 Juicy Liu

That same year, Michael visited San Francisco just days after Mayor Gavin Newsom directed the city clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Witnessing thousands of couples finally able to marry—many who had waited decades—changed his life. The Marriage Equality movement showed him that law could be a tool for justice. That summer, he decided to go to law school.

San Francisco became the home Michael had been searching for all his life. Now he's running to ensure it remains home for everyone.

Share your Story with Michael!
Design for Michael Nguyen, D8 Supervisor, featuring an orange tower illustration on a purple background with yellow text in English and Chinese.