Tag: south korea

South Korea’s LGBT Community Is Fighting for Equal Rights

One prominent couple’s effort to get same-sex marriage recognized is helping to raise awareness in a mostly conservative country Last September, two men held South Korea‘s first same-sex wedding on a bridge in Seoul, to the applause of hundreds of guests and the soaring voices of a choir. The ceremony carried no legal weight —… Read more »

Creating a safe space for queer youngsters

[Letter to the editor]  South Korea has one of the highest rates of suicide among developed (OECD) countries, reaching 28.4 per 100,000 people in 2011; the rate of teenager suicides was 9.4, also among the highest. Hidden among these tragedies are Korean LGBQT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer, Transgender), whose sexuality is often condemned by our… Read more »

Korean star supporting trans student faces vile attacks

Jonghyun’s display of solidarity with a transgender student drives a conservative group to post nude photos on fan sites A week ago, Jonghyun of South Korea’s leading boy band SHINee switched his Twitter profile picture to the image of a hand-written poster. The poster was written by Kang Eun Ha, a trans student studying social… Read more »

South Korea court overturns adults-only rating for gay kiss film

South Korea’s Supreme Court has deemed a gay romance film fit for people 15-and-over, overturning a Korea Media Rating Board decision that it was not fit for teenagers of any age to watch South Korean filmmaker Kim Jho Kwang-soo has won a four year battle with the Korea Media Rating Board to have an adults-only… Read more »

LGBT forum in Korea faces resistance

Attempts to discuss Christian attitudes toward gay people at the World Council of Churches (WCC) meeting held in Busan were derailed by resistance to engaging with the issue, according to one of its key organizers on Tuesday. In a country where a number of protestant groups continue to be a source of high-volume bigotry, the… Read more »

Gay South Korean film director marries his partner in public

Seoul(Reuters) – Gay South Korean film director Kim Jho Gwang-soo symbolically married his long-term partner on Saturday, with the couple exchanging vows on a bridge, though same-sex marriage remains illegal in the conservative Asian country. Dressed in white, Kim and his partner of nine years, Kim Seung-hwan, staged an ceremony on a stage overlooking a… Read more »

South Korea easing homophobic views on news of gay ‘wedding’

South Korea appears to be becoming more accepting of gays following news that one of its movie directors is set to marry his boyfriend. The first time a South Korean celebrity announced he was gay, in 2000, the reaction was quick and without empathy. Popular actor and entertainer Hong Suk-chon was banished from television and… Read more »

Over hundred LGBT South Koreans and allies record video against gay hate

YouTube video released for IDAHO (International Day Against homophobia and transphobia) Over 100 South Korean LGBT people and allies star in a YouTube video in support of gay rights released this week (Monday 13 May). Korean Gay Men’s Human Rights Group Chingusai organized the recording of You Make me Proud, a song created by Sydney… Read more »

Gay South Korean film director to marry in bid to pry open closet

(Reuters) – A gay South Korean film director is set to symbolically marry his long-term partner, saying he aims to pry open the closet in this conservative Asian country where homosexuality is still taboo and gays have been subjected to hate crimes. Kim Jho Gwang-soo announced plans to marry his partner of nine years on… Read more »

South Korea: Court grants Ugandan lesbian refugee status after family killed due to her sexuality

A 27-year-old Ugandan woman has become the first person to be granted refugee status in South Korea due to their sexuality. The woman, who can not be named for legal reasons told a court that she feared for her life after her family members were killed by neighbours because she is a lesbian. The Korean… Read more »

Sex organ operation not vital to change gender

A Seoul court has Ruled that persons who undergo sex change operations can be recognized as the opposite without altering the sex organ for the first time in the country. According to a research organization specializing in sex change, a Seoul district court Ruled that while sex change operations involve the removal of wombs and… Read more »

Choe Seung-ja’s “Love in this Age”: Exploring a Modern Same-Sex Poet

At a time when media coverage of self-inflicted gun shots, hangings, and bridge-jumpings of bullied gay teens has sparked celebrity attention and Internet campaigns assuring suffering teens that “things will get better,” the “feelings”/emotional experiences of American LGBT teens have suddenly been brought into wider national consciousness. Fortunately, South Korea, at least until recently, has… Read more »

“Homophobia, Transphobia is Violence”

in Korea, Republic Of, Today, May 17, is the day when the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of mental diseases. It is also the International Day Against Homophobia. Today, LGBT people living in many countries around the world come out to the streets and rallies to convey the message that homophobia is… Read more »

Korea, Republic of: Treatment of homosexuals, including legislation, availability of state protection and support services

Homosexuality is not criminalized in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) (Fridae 29 May 2009; ILGA May 2009; Gay Times n.d.), although various sources note that homosexuals face discrimination (ABC News 27 May 2009; The Korea Times 9 Dec. 2008; Fridae 9 Oct. 2008). In particular, gay rights sources claim that many gay Koreans believe… Read more »