Kha is pursuing a master’s degree from the School of Education’s No. 1-ranked Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Kha previously earned an undergraduate degree at UW–Madison in secondary English education in 2015.

Brava explains how “Doua Kha has long struggled to reconcile being queer with being Hmong. Kha, who uses the pronouns they, their and them, is now working to support other youth who may wrestle with issues of identity.”

“Looking back, I wish I had a mentor or a teacher who looked like me or identified like me,” Kha tells Brava.

Brava reports: “Born in a refugee camp in Thailand, Kha was 1 when the family moved to Milwaukee. When they then moved to a small, predominantly white town near Wausau, “it was the first time that I ever realized that I was a different race,” says Kha.

The report continues: “Later, grappling with their queer identity, Kha found language a barrier to coming out to parents who don’t speak English.”

“In Hmong you can’t translate queer,” says Kha, who uses the term to describe both sexuality and gender identity. The idea of leaving one’s family if they are not accepting is also not a solution in a culture centered around kinship.

Learn much more about Kha’s important research and volunteer work helping young people better understand their identities on this Brava magazine web page.