June Chan (born June 6, 1956) is an American lesbian activist and biologist. The organizer and co-founder of the Asian Lesbians of the East Coast (ALOEC), Chan raised awareness for LGBT issues relating to the Asian-American community.

Chan was born on June 6, 1956, in Lower Manhattan to parents who worked in New York City's Chinatown.^[1] Chan's mother was a refugee from China and the Japanese invasion of China.^[2] Chan's activism had its roots in her childhood, remembering tourists displaying racist attitudes to people in Chinatown.^[1] Chan attended the Bronx High School of Science and graduated in 1973.^[1] She went on to earn her bachelor's degree in biology at the City College of New York in 1977.^[1] Chan earned her master's degree in biology from the State University of Buffalo.^[1] After graduate school, she came out to her family, which was a mostly positive experience.^[1] Chan also works in research on neurobiology.^[1]

Chan and Katherine Hall met in 1983 and began working on projects together. They created a slide show of Asian lesbians in history and literature which were shown in the 1980s.^[3] Their Asian lesbian history slide show was considered "grassroots scholarship" by Polly Thistlethwaite.^[4] The slide show gave lesbians "a larger context for ourselves as Asian and Pacific Islander peoples, as people of color in the United States, and as lesbians."^[5]

Also in 1983, Chan and Hall formed the Asian Lesbians of the East Coast (ALOEC).^[1] The group was formed in response to the overly white and male LGBT community at the time and provided a place for support for lesbians.^[1] ALOEC conducted workshops and published newsletters.^[5] ALOEC took part in the 1989 LGBT march on Washington, D.C., demanding civil rights.^[2] During the process of organizing the march, Chan connected with other Asian-American lesbian groups.^[2] These groups and ALOEC formed the Asian Pacific Lesbian Network (later called the Asian Pacific Bi-Sexual Lesbian Network).^[2] In 1994, ALOEC participated in the 25th commemoration of the Stonewall riots.^[2]

• Henry, Jim (1995). "June Chan". In Zia, Helen; Gall, Susan B. (eds.). Notable Asian Americans. Gale Research, Inc. ISBN 9780810396234.
• Thistlethwaite, Polly (1998). "An Activist's Guide to Lesbian History: A Companion to the Video Not Just Passing Through". Publications and Research. CUNY Academic Works.
• "Not Just Passing Through". 1994. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

• Tyrkus, Michael (1997). Gay & Lesbian Biography. Detroit: St. James Press.

• Mariana combing June's Hair (picture)