First Openly Gay Vietnamese American Mayor Makes Bid for Congress
A Vietnamese refugee brought to the United States by his parents as a child, Bao Nguyen was elected Mayor of Garden Grove in 2014, where he has increased government transparency and fought corruption. Upon his swearing-in, he became the first directly- elected Vietnamese American Democratic Mayor in the United States. He is the city’s first Vietnamese American and first Openly LGBTQ Mayor. Prior to his historic election, he served as member of the Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education. Nguyen is running for U.S. Congress to represent California’s 46th District. He talked with NAM’s editor, Andrew Lam, author of “Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora.”
Details