Sarah Gore marries Bill Lee, so what?

July 17, 2007

But why does that matter? It really doesn't, unless you're really into Gore family trivia. Some reactions:

  • Our friend Angry Asian Man deemed it newsworthy and gave it a "whooooo."
  • This post on Craig's List offers a view of the nuptials using a word that rhymes with "ink."

    I think Angry Asian Man's elation may be due to the perception, real or imagined, that Asian American women hookup with other races, particularly white men, more often than Asian men. Driving this perception may be people with the mindset of someone who would use words such as those that rhyme with ink, and the perceptions -- real or imagined -- about Asian men and women.

    Whatever the reasons, in an ideal world, none of this would matter and this post would not exist. I debated whether to do this post, and in the back of my mind I feel a little like Angry Asian Man. Then I saw the Craig's List message, and I realized it matters to other people for very different reasons. I guess that's why I went ahead with the post.

  • Contributor: 

    Harry Mok

    Editor in chief

    Editor in Chief Harry Mok wrote about growing up on a Chinese vegetable farm for the second issue of Hyphen and has been a volunteer editor since 2004. As a board member of the San Francisco and New York chapters of the Asian American Journalists Association, Harry has recruited and organized events for student members. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was also a graduate student instructor in the Asian American Studies Department.

    Comments

    Comments

    So what? If Al Gore ever again wants to become President, good luck!! And I am sure that the extended Gore family in racist Tennessee is not very pleased about this.
    "IS AL GORE BRITISH?"British-American.
    Bill is a great guy and i'm sure this has been very difficult on him.
    Kevin Rudd, the newly elected prime minister of Australia's daughter, Jessica Rudd also married someone of Asian descent, Albert Tse. Who cares. Only Americans make such a big deal about race. Other countries don't.In the U.S., I think it's more controversial for a Black or Asian man to marry a White woman.When Nicholas Cage married his sushi waitress wife, everyone thought it was quaint. Halle Berry having a baby with his white model boyfriend is also considered quaint as well.
    Apparently opposites attract. She certainly isn't marrying him for his looks.
    Apparently opposites attract. She certainly isn't marrying him for his looks.
    Clarification: Angry Asian Man tells me he was not as much focused on the white woman/Asian man issue as on the fact the it was Al Gore's daughter getting married when he posted about the marriage on his blog. In any event, I think the perceptions that I talk about are out there, though using Angry's post was not the best example. Thanks for reading, Angry.
    all i have to say is: 'hot, smoldering blondes'
    Bill Lee looks like a very nice guy.Trawling Craig's list for information is like reading YouTube comments. Bound to upset.
    I agree with Phil from AAM.com in that it was brought up only because Al Gore is such a high profile individual. Had Phil randomly posted articles on how "I saw three white girls with Asian men today," it would be a tad different.But the perception that Asian women are with whites much more often than Asian men is real, not imagined.
    What nobody has commented on , except here in Taiwan, is that Bill Lee is from a Taiwanese family in Tainan in southern Taiwan, and it was big news here in Taiwan this week. On TV and in print. "Tainan man marries into Gore family" is the gist of what people said......Family proud of son's marriage to Al Gore's daughterSTAFF WRITERSunday, Jul 22, 2007, Page 4Tainan's Lee Chin-mu (李清木) is proud that his eldest son is now former US vice president Al Gore's son-in-law.The Chinese-language China Times reported yesterday that Gore's youngest daughter Sarah Gore, 28, a medical student at UC San Francisco, married Los Angeles businessman Bill Lee (李威廉), 36, at the Beverly Hills Hotel on July 14.Lee is the eldest son of Lee Chin-mu, who is a professor of anaesthesia. The elder Lee is from Tainan County. He moved to the US soon after graduating from the medical school of National Taiwan University.Lee Chin-mu was very excited about the wedding, and he called his relatives in Taiwan to share his happiness with them on the wedding day, the paper reported.According to Lee, his family invited almost 300 guests to the wedding banquet. The family also hired many security guards just to keep the paparazzi away.Their wedding guests included former US president Bill Clinton and his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump.The paper quoted members of the Lee family as saying that they are very proud to become in-laws of the Gore family.Former US vice president Gore is perhaps the world's most high-profile environmental activist.This story has been viewed 145,493 times.
    When Sara met Billby Dan BloomWhen news reports in the U.S. recently reported that Al Gore'sdaughter Sarah Gore had married Taiwanese-American businessman BillLee in a California ceremony attended by both the Lee and Gorefamilies, the local media in Taiwan took the news as a happy omen. Buta racist comment appeared on an Internet chatroom in the U.S. justafter the wedding that read: "Al Gore's daughter is marrying a chink?Boy, that is one Inconvenient Truth."For readers here who might not be familiar with the insult, the word"chink" is a derogatory word for people of Chinese or Taiwanese originin the U.S.It is indeed sad that racism still flourishes in that democracyoverseas. It's also interesting to note that none of the news reportsabout the marriage that originated in the U.S. mentioned that Lee'sfamily was originally from Taiwan. In a way, this shows the brightside of America, and how multicultural the U.S. has become, so thatnone of the wire services or gossip magazines felt a need to mentionthe ethnicity of Bill Lee.The 36-year-old Bill Lee (李威廉) is an American whose parents emigratedfrom Taiwan, and his father, Lee Chin-mu (李清木), told reporters afterthe wedding that he is happy to be related to the Gore family via hisson's marriage. Apparently, the couple met during a screening ofGore's popular movie about global warming titled "An InconvenientTruth", according to a report in People magazine. In addition, SarahGore, a 28-year-old medical student in San Francisco, has taken thename of her husband as her last name, the magazine said.Lee Chin-mu, who is a professor ofmedicine in the U.S., hails from Tainan County and moved to the U.S.soon after graduating from the medical school of National TaiwanUniversity, the media in Taiwan reported.Sarah Gore first met her future husband at a function for herfather's Oscar-winning environmental documentary, "An InconvenientTruth", the magazine added, noting that the movie's executive producerJeff Skoll served asbest man at the wedding."As one person joked during the wedding toasts, global warming helpedbring Sarah and Bill together," a family friend told People.What does this marriage of the Lee and Gore families mean for Taiwan?It will probably lead to more news reports here about Al Gore's workon global warming, and more invitations by environmental groups askingGore to give some lectures here and raise public awareness aboutglobal warming in the future.Other than that, the news was a normal "boy meets girl, girl marriesboy" story uniting two families in the U.S., with an small butinteresting sidebar about the connection to Taiwan.====Dan Bloom is a freelance writer in Taiwan.
    Bill Lee is an American not Taiwanese.
    Darrel King, you are right, and we never said he was Taiwanese. the article cited ID's him as a Taiwanese-American, from an ethnic point of view, but of course, he is American as apple pie, and note your note. Thanks.QUOTE: The 36-year-old Bill Lee (李威廉) is an American whose parents emigratedfrom Taiwan, and his father, Lee Chin-mu ...That story reminds me of Laura Nyro's old song, "Bill I love you soand always will..." Did Sarah sing it at the weddeng party? :-P
    Wedding Bell Blues LyricsLaura Nyro"Bill, I love you so, I always will. I look at you and you see the passion eyes of May.Oh, but am I ever gonna see my wedding day? (Wedding day)Oh, I was on your side, Bill, when you were losing.I'd never scheme or lie, Bill, there's been no fooling.But kisses and love won't carry me till you marry me, Bill."I notice alot of SARAH LEE jokes now on the net, too!
    Bill Lee was a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox 30 years ago, no?
    This post on Craig's List offers a view of the nuptials using a word that rhymes with "ink."NOTE: the craiglist CHINK comment has been taken down. GOOD!
    s.f. bayarea craigslist > san francisco > rants & raves--------------------------------------------------------------------------------This posting has expired.(The title on the listings page will be removed in just a few minutes.)
    WHEN SARAH MET BILLoped commentary, Taipei TimsJuly 25, Year of Global WarmingWhen the US media reported recently that former US vice president Al Gore's daughter Sarah Gore had married Taiwanese-American businessman Bill Lee (李威廉) in a California ceremony attended by both the Lee and Gore families, the local media in Taiwan took the news as a happy omen. However, a racist comment appeared on an Internet chatroom in the US just after the wedding that read: "Al Gore's daughter is marrying a chink? Boy, that is one Inconvenient Truth."For readers here who might not be familiar with the insult, "Chink" is a derogatory word for people of Chinese or Taiwanese origin.It is sad to see such racism in the US. But it's also interesting to note that none of the US news reports about the marriage mentioned that Lee's family was originally from Taiwan. This shows how multicultural the US has become, in that none of the wire services or gossip magazines felt the need to mention Lee's ethnicity.Bill Lee, 36, is an American whose parents emigrated from Taiwan, and his father, Lee Chin-mu (李清木), told reporters after the wedding that he was happy to be related to the Gore family via his son's marriage. According to People magazine, Sarah Gore, a 28-year-old medical student in San Francisco, has taken her husband's last name.Lee Chin-mu, who is a professor of medicine in the US, hails from Tainan County and moved to the US soon after graduating from the medical school of National Taiwan University, media in Taiwan reported.Sarah Gore first met her husband at a function for her father's Oscar-winning environmental documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, People magazine added, noting that the movie's executive producer, Jeff Skoll, served as best man at the wedding."As one person joked during the wedding toasts, global warming helped bring Sarah and Bill together," a family friend told People.What does this marriage of the Lee and Gore families mean for Taiwan? It will probably lead to more news reports here about the former US vice president's work on global warming, and to more invitations for Al Gore to give lectures here.Other than that, this is a typical "boy meets girl, girl marries boy" story uniting two families in the US, with a small but interesting sidebar about the connection to Taiwan.
    Congratulations! Sarah married a nice Chinese-American man! What incredible combination!
    I can't believe people talk about race all the time. I heard that at their wedding they ate sour Kraut as an appetizer.
    anonymous, you wrote, above:Congratulations! Sarah married a nice Chinese-American man! What incredible combination!No, he is NOT CHINESE-AMERICAN. WAKE UP TO REALITY. HE IS TAIWANESE-AMERICAN. HE IS NOT CHINESE AT ALL. IS AL GORE BRITISH?
    this is not about RACE, it is about two ethnic groups meeting in the genepool arena of be fruitful and multiply. Who said anything about race. And sour kraut is oishii!
    What Really Happened at the Gore Wedding (and nobody doesn’t like Sarah Lee)That’s to Budrock (www.budrock.com) for forwarding this accurate version of Al Gore’s daughter’s wedding:BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Al Gore’s youngest daughter, Sarah, was married to businessman Bill Lee on July 14 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The beaming father of the bride said, “I admire a man who conserves letters in his own name.” The Gore family is looking to Sarah, 28, as their next political star. “I think she has a huge future,” said her father. “Nobody doesn’t like Sarah Lee.”Dedicated environmentalists, the Gores sought to make the wedding as Green as possible, holding the ceremony on the hotel grounds and abstaining from electricity. Instead of hiring a limousine, the bride arrived in a horse-drawn carriage. “It was absolutely stunning,” said one guest. “Of course the girl smelled like horseshit all day.”The bride was resplendent in a recycled white chiffon dress. The groom wore the traditional tie, tails, and enormous hard-on.An embarrassing moment occurred when Gore, accompanying his daughter down the aisle, mistakenly walked across a lily pond, leaving Sarah knee-deep in the muck. Fortunately, she was solar dried quickly.After the sun had set, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, and other guests reveled under gas lit lanterns and strained to listen to a string quartet, which played without benefit of amplification. The menu, served on recycled paper plates, featured free-range chicken cooked over an open pit.Said a Gore family representative, “It was just like John and Abigail Adams’ wedding, without the small pox.”One misfortune did mar the nuptials, however. An Inconvenient Truth producer, Laurie David, who had not been invited, buzzed the ceremony repeatedly in her hybrid Cessna.Editor’s note: This article corrects a previous version by omitting an erroneous report that singer Willie Nelson, who performed at the wedding, and Al Gore III were arrested for smoking pot in the hotel lobby after the ceremony.
    Why is anyone quoting the rant & rave forum on craigslist???? That place is filled with racist diatribe just for every race out there. No one takes it seriously.
    TAHTS GOOD TO KNOW...THANKS"Why is anyone quoting the rant & rave forum on craigslist???? That place is filled with racist diatribe just for every race out there. No one takes it seriously."
    7:52 pm (9 minutes ago)http://udn.com/NEWS/WORLD/WOR4/3944136.shtml環保結緣 高爾么女嫁台灣之子【聯合報╱本報系記者楊青∕洛杉磯報導】 2007.07.26 03:53 am美國前副總統高爾夫婦(中)、李清木夫婦(右)和新人李君偉夫婦(左)。李清木提供美國前副總統高爾今年七月雙喜臨門,繼在五大洲主持全球環保大型宣傳演唱活動之後,又兼程趕回洛杉磯,參加本月十四日小女兒莎拉(SarahGore)的婚禮。而迎娶莎拉的,正是洛杉磯加州大學醫學院麻醉科主任李清木的長子李君偉(Bill Lee)。第一次當婆婆的李太太簡文禧掩不住迎娶媳婦的喜悅,她說,兒子和媳婦可謂天造地設的一對,他們全家都對莎拉到來表示最誠摯的歡迎。李君偉和莎拉的婚禮七月十四日在加州比華利酒店舉行,由於保密到家,很多媒體都是事後才得知。婚禮次日,新郎新娘即飛往義大利度蜜月,預定八月一日才回洛杉磯。她老爸作品促良緣這對新人選擇了「洛杉磯最綠」的餐館、比華利酒店舉行婚禮,除雙方家人之外,三百五十名嘉賓中還有許多政壇名人,知名鄉村歌手威利尼爾森在婚禮中獻唱。婚禮上,高爾夫婦翩翩起舞為女兒女婿祝福,李清木夫婦也舉杯祝賀兒子媳婦白頭偕老。高爾在當天婚禮上還開玩笑地說,「女兒現在是了全世界都知道的SarahLee了!」(生產莎莉雪藏蛋糕的全美最大糕餅品牌)。李君偉現年卅六歲,莎拉則為廿八歲,兩人兩年前在高爾獲得奧斯卡獎的紀錄片「不願面對的真相」的討論會上相識,共同的抱負使兩人很快墜入愛河。畢業於哈佛大學、目前在舊金山加州大學醫學院攻讀的莎拉,與柏克萊加大畢業,並擁有洛杉磯加大商學院和法學院學位的李君偉,都對環保情有獨鍾。他老爸聯考狀元郎「兩人約會大約一年半」,簡文禧說,一年前莎拉第一次到家裡來,給人的印象是一位「非常漂亮、謙遜、精明、能幹的女孩」,簡文禧說,當時她和先生都不知道女孩的真實身分,「但直覺女孩未來是一個很好的太太」。後來他們終於知道,神秘女孩原來是前副總統的小女兒。李清木當年以台灣聯考狀元進入台大醫學院,簡文禧則是台北醫學院第一屆畢業生,兩人在一九六○年代末移民美國,李清木目前為洛杉磯加州大學麻醉系教授,簡文禧多年前由麻醉醫師退休改行從事房地產經紀。李家的兩個女兒李昭芬和李貝貞以及兩位女婿也都是醫師。新婚暫做牛郎織女李君偉目前在洛杉磯獨立執業,投資包括網路、酒店、房地產等。李清木和簡文禧談起兒子「非常自豪」。簡文禧說,兒子雖然生長在美國,是道道地地的美國孩子,但骨子裡「很華人」,疼愛家人,保護老人,大小事情都會徵詢父母意見,非常尊重長輩。簡文禧說,李君偉也曾學習中文,一度還能寫中文。由於李君偉的投資集中在南加州,而莎拉目前在舊金山上學,所以兩人目前暫時還是「牛郎織女」,洛杉磯—舊金山兩地跑。
    I did a search and found the article about the marriage posted in other forums. It was posted on freerepublic.com and had over a hundred comments. None of them were offensive at all. Many of them wished them well. One simply asked if Bill Lee was related to Bruce Lee.As mentioned, I don't think craigslist's rants and raves message board is a reliable source. Go there use the search function and type in black, asian, indian, gay, ect. and you'll find equal numbers of racist rants for everyone. It's kind of good for laughs.I don't think freelance writer, Dan Bloom, should have put that racial comment from the craigslist forum in his article (which I also saw on Tapei Times). It creates racial tension when there really isn't any for the sake of being provocative.BTW, don't quote internet message boards or chatrooms when writing an article!!! If it's published in print, then that's fine, but message boards where people can act obnoxious and say just about anything while remaining anonymous are never to be taken seriously.
    Kinda funny to see an Anonymous guy above reacted so strongly over Bill Lee being called Chinese-American while had no comment about him being referred as Chink. This is a typical perspective of some people from Taiwan: "If white people discriminate us as Chinks, that's fine. If Chinese regard us as of their same ethnicity, that's outragous!"Pathetic.
    Haha, i married a white girl before and doesnt good at all.
    yes, I agree with you. when people from Taiwan seek help from US, still people in US call them Chink, it is very bitter. So now,please be pround of being a "Chink"
    yes, I agree with you. when people from Taiwan seek help from US, still people in US call them Chink, it is very bitter. So now,please be pround of being a "Chink"
    It's not outrageous that the writer seems more concerned about people not understanding differences between the two cultures, Chinese and Taiwan. To say it's "outrageous" points to our lack of understand of what is important to them. What, so now Americans are deciding what's important to another culture? How arrogant and stupid is that? The man is telling you what he is concerned about, stop trying to dictate to him what he should be in an uproar about. I think we’d be better off to listen and learn than about what is important to another culture.
    Jeez, what are you (JZ) uproaring about?
    revsied story for US mediadbTAIPEI -- When the US media reported recently that former U.S. vice president AlGore's daughter Sarah Gore had married Taiwanese-American businessmanBill Lee (李威廉) in a California ceremony attended by both the Lee andGore families, the print and electronic media in Taiwan took the news as a happyomen, as did the island nation's 23 million people. A Gore in thefamily tree! How wonderful, and now communist China will not dareattack the democratic, self-ruled island!However, most of the mainstream media in the U.S. did not mention theTaiwan connection at all.One must ask: why?Is Taiwan so far off mostAmerican's radar screens that a Gore family connection with Taiwan isnot news?Here's what most of you in the USA missed: Bill Lee, 36, is an American whose parentsemigrated from Taiwan, andhis father, Lee Chin-mu (李清木), told reporters after the wedding thathe was happy to be related to the Gore family via his son's marriage.According to People magazine, Sarah Gore, a 28-year-old medicalstudent in San Francisco, has taken her husband's last name. And yes,the "Sarah Lee" jokes are already online.Lee Chin-mu, who is a professor of medicine in the U.S., hails fromTainan in southern Taiwan and moved to the US soon after graduating from themedical school of National Taiwan University, media in Taiwanreported as news of the marriage trickled in from America.Sarah Gore first met her husband at a function for her father'sOscar-winning environmental documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, Peoplemagazine added, noting that the movie's executive producer, JeffSkoll, served as best man at the wedding."As one person joked during the wedding toasts, global warming helpedbring Sarah and Bill together," a family friend told People.What does this marriage of the Lee and Gore families mean for Taiwan?It will probably lead to more news reports here about the former USvice president's work on global warming, and to more invitations forAl Gore to give lectures here.Other than that, this is a typical "boy meets girl, girl marries boy"story uniting two families in the US, with a small but interestingsidebar about the connection to Taiwan.
    What did Al Gore give daughter Sarah Gore for a wedding present?this is what YAHOO confuses as CHINA and TAIWAN:qusetion on YAHOO QUESTIONIs Al's new son-in-law, Chinese (sic)businessman, in on the global warming scam too?SEE? thuis is from YAHOO. he is NOT CHINESE he is TAIWaNESEhttp://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070715063254AAADxQR
    News alert anon, Taiwanese people ARE ethnically CHINESE. The reference was to race, not nationality.Stop being so overly-defensive about China. Regardless of the tensions between Taiwan and China, the peoples of China and Taiwan are still ethnically the SAME PEOPLE.
    didn't know that. thanks. anon