A Showdown Looms At South Korea's Gay Pri Para : Parallels : NPR

Contents:

• TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED
• SOUTH KOREAN GAY RIGHTS SUPPORTERS CELEBRATE 1ST PRI PARA SEOUL 3 YEARS
• A SHOWDOWN LOOMS AT SOUTH KOREA'S GAY PRI PARA
• HECKLERS OUTNUMBER GAY-FTIVAL-GOERS SOUTH KOREA
• IS PRI OR JT A PARA? -POLICS OF GAY PRI SOUTH KOREAIS PRI OR JT A PARA? -POLICS OF GAY PRI SOUTH KOREAIS PRI OR JT A PARA? -POLICS OF GAY PRI SOUTH KOREAIS PRI OR JT A PARA? -POLICS OF GAY PRI SOUTH KOREAIS PRI OR JT A PARA? -POLICS OF GAY PRI SOUTH KOREA
• SEOUL GAY PRI PARA TO DEFY OFFICIAL DISAPPROVAL

TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED

Rabow Actn, a aln of sexual mory groups South Korea, acced Seoul Cy of “aligng wh homophobia and discrimatn” by allowg a Christian group to “block our gatherg.

”Tens of thoands of pri participants have gathered at Seoul Plaza ont of the South Korean pal’s Cy Hall every year sce 2014, except for a two-year hiat 2020 and 2021 due to the vid-19 LGBTQ rights rema a ntent issue South Korea, amid entrenched genr norms and domant social year, about 15, 000 unterprotters backed by Christian and socially nservative groups rallied agast the Pri event, which had tens of thoands of participants, yellg homophobic slogans through loudspeakers to the rabow-filled Seoul Plaza. “The day is when the weather is forest to be good and if we were to postpone, the ncert would be right the monsoon season, ” said Kim M-tae, a spokman for the broadster’s culture nied the gay rights activists’ allegatns that the ncert was liberately schled on the date to stop the pri ftival. Homophobia remas rampant South Korea, the world’s 10th-largt enomy.

SOUTH KOREAN GAY RIGHTS SUPPORTERS CELEBRATE 1ST PRI PARA SEOUL 3 YEARS

Conservative groups had protted agast Goldberg’s appotment, cricizg him for “homosexual cultural imperialism. ”An anti-LGBTQ protter wh a sign sayg, “Homosexualy is s!!! I hope more people, cludg those the other area [anti-gay protts], will jo and hang out together, brgg harmony to this ftival.

I was sred on the way here bee the anti-gay protters were watchg wh their ey wi open.

There’s always been tensn [between the participants and the anti-gay protters]. I’m openly gay but those the closet probably thk there aren’t any other LGBTQ people around, while fact, there are lots of . The foundatn is lked wh the Christian broadster CTS, which has volly opposed homosexualy and the pri ftival, acrdg to Rters.

A SHOWDOWN LOOMS AT SOUTH KOREA'S GAY PRI PARA

Homophobia is rife South Korea, where there is no prehensive anti-discrimatn laws to protect LGBTQ people.

(Vio: Ta Hsu)SEOUL — Thoands of revelers gathered Saturday for the South Korean pal’s Pri celebratn, wavg rabow banners and paradg through the streets spe the sultry monsoon heat, energized by the cy’s cisn to ny the event a perm for the e of a proment lively mood was stark ntrast to the relatively muted prence of nservative protters, who years past have surround the plaza near Cy Hall, stg a shadow over the Pri celebratns wh homophobic slogans blarg through loudspeakers. The Uned Stat, on the other hand, had a historic surge bills targetg transgenr socially nservative South Korea, homosexualy remas taboo, and same-sex unns are not legally regnized.

Seoul’s nservative mayor, Oh Se-hoon, has exprsed opposn to homosexualy, sayg he “nnot approve” of . ”Kwon BadaAt the end of 2021, when vid rtrictns were still stg a haze over Seoul’s nightlife, Kwon Bada opened what he scrib as a “straight-iendly gay bar. Kockiri quickly beme a fixture of the cy’s gay nightlife scene, wh gay people brgg their straight iends and lbian patrons thankg him for creatg such a June, the bar hosted a “Marriage For All Party, ” where the hoe mic psed as the lawmaker who troduced South Korea’s first same-sex marriage bill gave a said that while his role may not be that of an activist, he ntribut by providg muny and boostg others: “I do what I n do.

HECKLERS OUTNUMBER GAY-FTIVAL-GOERS SOUTH KOREA

“The moment I opened myself up to the world, the world also opened up to me, ” she relative safety she experienc South Korea, she said, om the lack of visibily for transgenr people, and more broadly the LGBTQ+ muny, whout s own Stonewall, she said, “we’re a time where thgs are surfacg, ” such as a landmark lg this year by a South Korean urt orrg the natnal health surer to provi spoal verage for gay upl. “First of all, I’m gay, ” he said, “and this movie is gog to be gay non. "Alex AvilaAnd Gay Tim, a Brish LGBTQ news se, celebrated Friday, the day of the film’s official release, as “Barbie day“ and lled the world-renowned doll a “queer cultural phenomenon.

PicturIn an terview wh Fandango, actor Kate McKnon, who is openly gay and plays “Weird Barbie” the film, said Barbie is about “imagatn. Many also flagged the teased scene which Barbie, now the real world, exchang a longg look wh Ameri Ferrera’s Gloria character; though, the relatnship between the two turns out to be a tribute to motherhood and the tradnal, nuclear before the film’s release, Robbie all but squashed the mors that some or any of the Barbi and Kens would be gay, tellg the Brish LGBTQ magaze Attu: The dolls don’t “actually have sexual orientatns. There are brief appearanc by Earrg Magic Ken and Palm Beach Sugar Daddy Ken, both of which Mattel has always nied were tentnally gay-d.

”As far as the queer-d trailers and promotnal clips for the new “Barbie” film, Rand poted to a phenomenon known as “gay wdow advertisg, ” or the practice of advertisers gturg to queer dienc a way that will go over the heads of those who would disapprove. Holland (Go Taob) was the first openly Gay K-pop idol South Korea. Also, Girls Generatn’s Seohyun did a stellar performance as Ji An Na Hello Dracula as a gay woman who liv by the bilatg nstrictns of her mother and experienc a harsh break up wh her girliend of 8 years.

IS PRI OR JT A PARA? -POLICS OF GAY PRI SOUTH KOREAIS PRI OR JT A PARA? -POLICS OF GAY PRI SOUTH KOREAIS PRI OR JT A PARA? -POLICS OF GAY PRI SOUTH KOREAIS PRI OR JT A PARA? -POLICS OF GAY PRI SOUTH KOREAIS PRI OR JT A PARA? -POLICS OF GAY PRI SOUTH KOREA

Some Konglish words (borrowed words om English) clu 프라이드 p-ra-i-u (Pri), 엘지비티 el-ji-bi-ti (LGBT), 게이 (Gay), 트랜스젠더 t-raen-s-gen-o (Transgenr).

SEOUL GAY PRI PARA TO DEFY OFFICIAL DISAPPROVAL

But there are Korean words ed wily to scribe and refer to queer people and queer experienc like 성소수사자 seong-so-su-sa-ja (LGBTQ+), 동성애 dong-seong-ae (homosexualy), 성지향성 seong-ji-hyang-seong (sexual orientatn), 양성애 yang-seong-ae (bisexualy), 범성애 beom-seong-ae (pansexualy), 무성애 mu-seong-ae (asexualy) and the verb for g out is 동성애자임을 밝히다 dong-seong-ae-ja-im-l bak-hi-da. Thoands of gay rights supporters marched unr heavy police guard the South Korean pal on Saturday as they celebrated the cy’s first major Pri para three years after a COVID-19 hiat.

They held up banners and chanted slogans opposg homosexualy as their lear shouted prayers to a microphone pleadg that God “save the Republic of Korea om anti-discrimatn legislatn. Gay rights activists are also unhappy wh Oh, who an terview wh a Christian newspaper last week said the cy may prohib the Pri event om g the cy hall plaza startg next year if this year’s participants “exhib cent materials or overexpose their bodi. ”“Who knows if Seoul Cy Hall employe right now are rryg around lers, tryg to terme whether our skirts are too short, ” Bae J-gyo, a gay rights activist, said om the stage.