K-pop: Why 's hard for stars to be gay South Korea | CNN

Contents:

• IN THE MP WORLD OF K-POP, ’S HARD FOR STARS TO BE GAY
• GAY KOREAN CELEBRI – K-POP SGER FIRST TO E OUT AS GAY 20 YEARS
• 5 STYLISH KOREAN ACTORS AND THE CONTROVERSIAL GAY CHARACTERS THEY PLAYED ON K-DRAMAS
• K-POP'S FIRST OPENLY GAY SGER PREPAR TO MAKE HIS DEBUT

IN THE MP WORLD OF K-POP, ’S HARD FOR STARS TO BE GAY

Maman Maman, who origally buted 2007 unr the stage name Magoply, is K-Pop first openly gay idol.

Shortly after butg, Maman me out as gay an terview. Holland Holland is well-known as the media’s first openly gay K-Pop idol. He has been openly gay sce 2015 and buted 2018.

GAY KOREAN CELEBRI – K-POP SGER FIRST TO E OUT AS GAY 20 YEARS

Though his gay Korean iends told him would be better to stay the closet, he chose to e out as a way to be his te self. Holland is not the first known LGBT K-pop idol, but you n say that this new generatn of K-pop, he's one of the first idols who admted that he's gay.

He ially me out as gay 2015, and upon g Korea, his iends told him to keep his sexualy secret - but he's proud of his inty, makg him the first Korean artist who is openly gay. However, durg an terview, she nfsed she is gay, g her to be kicked out om her agency. What is like to be gay South Korea?

Homophobia is still rife South Korea, where very few mastream mic stars have e out as gay. There, homosexual sex is not banned, but is illegal the ary, where almost all men mt plete a stt of pulsory nscriptn. “It’s kd of sad, ” said Jungm Kwon, an amic who wrote a book lled “Straight Korean Female Fans and Their Gay Fantasi.

5 STYLISH KOREAN ACTORS AND THE CONTROVERSIAL GAY CHARACTERS THEY PLAYED ON K-DRAMAS

“On the one hand looks like the dtry is very open md to shippg culture, ” she told CNN, referrg to the culture among fans of imagg relatnships between their favore stars – cludg gay relatnships. Acrdg to Kwon, fans were spired by “yaoi” – a kd of Japane manga that featur gay relatnships between male upl – and began makg up stori about their favore stars.

Even now, K-pop labels sometim cultivate idols’ homoerotic appeal the hop that mak them more popular fanfictn, where Kwon timat 80% of stori volve gay story l. South Korea’s rerd labels are happy to let fans fantasize about idols beg gay.

K-POP'S FIRST OPENLY GAY SGER PREPAR TO MAKE HIS DEBUT

But they don’t want gay idols be open about their sexualy.

But when me time to but, the label was agast him butg as a gay idol. “It’s a shame that’s the lim they n go when to showg homosexual teractn – n only be portrayed as funny. After Hong me out publicly as gay 2000, he was fired om his hostg job and lost other work – and thor Kwon believ that harsh rponse has disuraged others om followg su.