This quote is one of the last sentences in Queer Southeast Asia: An Afterword, in a section about finding hope through the study of queer experiences. Queer Southeast Asia can be best described as a collection of both academic research and personal experiences inside Southeast Asia, and to a lesser extent, by its diaspora abroad. The book does not try at all to generalize queerness in Southeast Asia, something I appreciated as a researcher of Southeast Asian studies myself. The first was a chapter by Dr. Benjamin Hegarty, a prominent Australian expert on Southeast Asian gender, sexuality, and reproductive health. It is here that perhaps the first quote may be recalled; in Southeast Asia, queerness has little institutional support, particularly for those attempting to study it.