South Korea stggl to nta new outbreak amid anti-gay backlash | South Korea | The Guardian

Contents:

• THE BT GAY BARS SEOUL
• THE BEST SEOUL GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS SEOUL
• SOUTH KOREA STGGL TO NTA NEW OUTBREAK AMID ANTI-GAY BACKLASH
• LE GUI HOR DU SéOUL GAY
• GAY LIFE SOUTH KOREA
• SEOUL GAY MAP
• GAY SCENE SEOUL? - SEOUL FOM
• KENGO MASSAGEHOTELS · LUXURYHOTELS · MID-RANGE + BUDGETHOTEL DISUNTSBARSDANCE CLUBSMASSAGECISE CLUBSSNASTOURSCY GUIGAY MAPSHOW MOREKENGO MASSAGE

THE BT GAY BARS SEOUL

Special thanks to Ross, Travelg Gay, jtsurf12, spartanalum, PJack, gymtoy, Chichubby3rd, byungdohsuh, Demian71, boyboy1976, Gabrielkr, njbear1965, rayrrr, geme, cyrc_84, sglenote, KokAsianBear, themeant, FloridaBoy, bigozibear, ratte, Specter, Byungdohsuh, Graeme, Ken, Jyong, Robbie, Louis Y., John S., Charlie, and David! Seoul has hundreds of gay bars spread around a handful of neighborhoods, but most tourists bee faiar wh Itaewon, a foreigner-iendly enclave that seems to have people om every untry on the pla wanrg around, along wh many Amerin and Korean soldiers.

The gay heart of Itaewon, nicknamed "Homo Hill", has seen an explosn of foreigner-iendly, upsle gay bars, a nvenient lotn. The clientele is VERY mixed both as to orientatn (gay, lez, bi, straight, other) as well as ethnicy, wh beg the one of the most popular LGBTQ night spots for foreigners Korea. Jongno is Seoul's biggt gay enclave, wh more than a hundred clubs and venu loted the center of Seoul the Nagwon Dong neighborhood to the north and east of Topkol Park (Inpennce Park).

But, Jongno is changg wh the tim and newer addns to the gay neighborhood tend to be larger, more open and more ternatnal outlook.

THE BEST SEOUL GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS SEOUL

In the eveng, the lan and alleys of this nsely packed, low-rise area, bee filled wh food tents, tipsy salarymen, and thoands of gay men gog to and om their favore havens.

But if you're alone, try some of the bars listed below where you'll be at ease wh a more ternatnal gay bar system and iendly, English-speakg staff to wele you. Korean, English and Che languag are spoken here, so, for foreign visors, 's a good place to get updated rmatn about gay culture Korea. Authori South Korea are stgglg to nta a new ronavis outbreak lked to the pal’s nightclub district as a backlash agast the untry’s gay muny creas, promptg fears LGBT people will fail to get tted out of fear of beg Korea had been praised for s novative efforts to nta the panmic, gog om the send most fected regn outsi Cha to havg jt a handful of s before the latt outbreak a week the creasg number of s related to nightclubs Seoul is raisg ncerns about a possible send wave as well as over the high level of eply entrenched homophobic attus the nservative 35 new s, 29 were found to be lked to Itaewon, the pal’s gay district, acrdg to officials om the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Preventn (KCDC), brgg the total number of s related to the clubs to emergence of the clter prompted officials to ph back the re-openg of schools by one week, wh stunts ially set to return to class stag startg mister Park Baeg-beom said the lay was “evable” orr to guarantee the safety of stunts.

GraphicAfter Kookm Ilbo, a lol media outlet wh lks to an evangelil church, reported that bs vised by an fected man over the long weekend were gay clubs, many other South Korean media followed su, revealg not only the inty of clientele but also some of their ag and the nam of their media enzy reached a new level when another fected man was found to have been to an LGBT sna Gangnam, promptg a slew of homophobic ntent newspapers and reportg, along wh South Korea’s e of the trace and tt method, has led to members of the gay muny reportg feelg sred to get tted and even suicidal. “I adm was a huge mistake to vis the gay district when the rona suatn was not fully over, ” Lee Youngwu, a gay man his30s, told the Guardian “But visg the area is the only time when I n be myself and hang out wh others siar to me. ”On Saturday the prime mister, Chung Sye-kyun, urged the public to “rea om cricisg a certa muny as will not help efforts to nta the ronavis spread” Jong-geol, the general director of Korean gay men’s human rights group Chgai, told the Guardian that the group had begun unsellg and legal aid servic for those affected by the crisis, addg that Seoul cy officials asked the group to enurage gay men who had vised the clubs to e forward to get tted.

SOUTH KOREA STGGL TO NTA NEW OUTBREAK AMID ANTI-GAY BACKLASH

“I unrstand that civil servants want to fd a nvenient way to do their jobs but they should realise that South Korea’s gay people do not all belong to one, sgle group.

“It took me a whole week to get up the urage to get tted, ” M Jaeyoung, 27, told the Guardian, “I had to practise sayg ‘oh, of urse I’m not gay’ and even rerd myself several tim to sound natural. As turned out, I was not fected but I cried when I got that text not bee I was happy not to be fected but bee I really hate beg a gay man this untry. Malgré cela, l’homosexualé (et tout ce qui y a tra) rte enre un tabou dans la culture réenne, notamment parce qu’une large part la populatn se pose nservatrs vix-j et chrétiens très religix.

Along wh the chang merce have e alteratns human behavr and attus, cludg a recent softeng toward homosexualy by means of high tech munitn and age-old drama.

LE GUI HOR DU SéOUL GAY

Mostly hidn clubs and bars, pigeon-holed off to late dancg or drkg wh iends and stashed far om fay bs, gay Koreans live wh a very strong heterosexual tradn that clus more than jt the expectatns of takg a spoe. Except for one major difference: his tentn of studyg the USA is equally, if not more, motivated by his need to breathe valy to his emotnal life as a gay man.

There are no gay paras here yet but a few gay anizatns have formed such as Kirikiri and Sappho (lbian groups), Chgai (gay men’s group) and the Coaln of Stunt Gay Rights Groups. More visibly and much more popular, gays and lbians are workg on the Inter and gettg a life–chattg, arrangg iendships and anizg activi.

GAY LIFE SOUTH KOREA

Jt before I left for Seoul, I typed “Korea gay” to a search enge and was nnected to the Korean BB room where an active list of notic had been recently posted. The gay cyber-muny Asia is burstg out of the closet and crowdg to chat rooms, bullet boards, Yahoo/eGroups and specific web pag. It is graced wh grand and lite scenery, and is occupied by people of a kd and welg disposn, pecially s gay and lbian muni…jt perfect!

“Actually, the suatn for the Korean gay muny is gettg better recent years, wh the openg of many gay bars, night clubs and snas. The gay magaze, Buddy was also first published this year and there are now some anized gay/ lbian muny groups at some universi, or on the Inter.

The troductn by this young Korean native is remarkable s mcular optimism about a new dawn for the lbigay muny which has lived ep shadows for untls generatns. From fluorcent donut shops to the sleazy dim trigue of massage parlors sportg red velvet sofas, the noisy and trendy straight diss, div and fast food jots offers enough distractn and amement to mask a dozen gay bars and diss. Itaewon is also home to other gay venu such as Zipper (s possible to fall down the stairs bee the lightg is poor), Out Class (quiet, good for chattg), Trance (drag show on weekends), Why Not?

SEOUL GAY MAP

The Gay Korea webse has this helpful advice: “There are many small bars loted the center of Seoul the Nag Weon Dong neighborhood to the north and east of Topkol Park (Inpennce Park). On Augt 4, 2000, the ‘Korea Herald’ newspaper reported a ntroversial new arrival Seoul: “The first show of s kd ever staged notorly homophobic Korea, the Hahahoho Show featur an all-gay st of ne homosexuals and ne transsexuals.

S., England, Japan and Thailand, have long sce regnized the talent of gay members of their muni and ed them to help build succsful tourism dtri.

“We thought this might help get rid of prejudice arisg om ignorance about gays, ” Kim said wh half an eye to the add entertament value of such rmal ssns. The story nclud wh, “a change public attus may be takg place, nsirg that Koreans seem more open to the ia of homosexualy, at least more so than before Hahahoho opened. Another ocsn that recently forced the Korean public to s up and take notice of homosexualy was a popular TV edian /actor who was prsed to out himself last year.

GAY SCENE SEOUL? - SEOUL FOM

In numero magaz, TV and rad talks shows and newspapers, cludg the Christian Science Monor of January 17, 2001, Hong Seok-chon’s real life story put homosexualy onto the natnal circu. Some abhorred the immoraly threateng tradnal valu while others wanted him to stand up and be proud, seeg him as wrg a new page Korea’s long reprsed attus about sexualy, pecially gay rights.

” The words are more than a slogan for the lbigays who meet regularly at the Korean Church Centennial Memorial Buildg Seoul. This is among the first and most darg of groups to meet for the exprs purpose of supportg and affirmg the homosexual nature of s drop- members. For homosexuals, who are monly regard as psychologilly formed and a threat to prec tradnal valu of fay hn, the pariah stat n be suffotg.

But wasn’t until 1991 when Shappo, an Amerin soldier who treated her lbianism as a badge of pri, formed the first visible gay group here. Increasgly, gays are enterg the mastream pecially at universi, formg clubs and f and, as is so evint om the Gay Korea webse, Inter groups across the untry.

KENGO MASSAGEHOTELS · LUXURYHOTELS · MID-RANGE + BUDGETHOTEL DISUNTSBARSDANCE CLUBSMASSAGECISE CLUBSSNASTOURSCY GUIGAY MAPSHOW MOREKENGO MASSAGE

A new force is at work here: the Seoul Internatnal Queer Film & Vio Ftival, an event voted to explorg gay them whout prejudice or limatns. Sce began 1998, this non-petive, non-mercial biennial event–whose ma goal is to change Korea’s homophobic attus–has had a great impact on Korean dienc who were prevly left the dark about the subject. The ftival was reported the Korean Herald of Augt 4, 2000: “Among the most notable movi on the 2000 program are “Boys Don’t Cry” (1999), the te story of a girl who pass herself off as a boy; “The World’s Happit Gay Couple, ” an animated work that won nsirable attentn and praise at the 2000 Puchon Internatnal Film Ftival; and “Queer as Folk, ” the popular Brish TV drama on gay youths.

“Up until 1998, all films alg wh homosexualy were fed as too risqué for release Korea bee they went agast the ‘universal valu of the society.

” Acknowledgg the anti-gay sentiment here, the anizers of the queer filmft anizers went ahead wh plans for the first ftival 1997 whout seekg permissn om the ernment. “As far for the specific program, the event was divid to five major tegori: “Gay Boys go to the Theater/Gay Girls go to the Theater”; “Lbian, Gay, Transgenr Documentary, ” the short film sectn; miscellaneo; and the Korean film segment… The Korean film sectn was a ftival highlight as anizers poted out the latent homosexualy some of Korea’s most reprentative films.

It attempts to rtore the life and voice of a mory group to filmmakg, and to help all gays and transsexuals realize that they are all a part of the muny. The power of the Inter’s technology, the sire for Saturday night entertament, urageo and betiful crossdrsers, the impact of a TV personaly, a fiant film ftival and the quiet validatn of support groups–no one of the will break the prejudice of Korea’s anti-gay nce. In tth, gay roo is a natnwi phenomenon, but Arizona is as good a place as any to squeeze to your tightt pair of Levi jeans and give the Cowboy liftyle a try.

The 34th Annual Arizona Gay Roo happens Phoenix Febary; the World Gay Roo Fals happen October Sttsdale; and then there’s queer untry wtern bars Phoenix cludg Charlie’s, the Cash Nightclub and Lounge, and Lat-flavored nightclub Karamba (which hosts ocsnal wboy nights).

A small mounta town the middle of the Ozarks that is guard over by a statue of Christ mak for an unlikely gay mec, but Eureka Sprgs is no ordary hamlet. A hangout for hippi, homos and honeymooners (check out the abundance of hotel spa su), this pretty Victorian town boasts LGBTQIA-owned bars, eateri, shops and even a gay rort. Check out glassy Thorncrown Chapel, take a ghost tour at the Crcent Hotel and go noeg on Lake Leatherwood (even their lake is gay!

But surely the fullt exprsn of gay Goln State bliss happens every time the sun beats down hard on Dolor Park San Francis and folks reprentg every letter of the queer alphabet ngregate on the so-lled “F Shelf” for an afternoon of idyll. So raise a glass to this New England gem at 168 York Street Cafe, a gay bar and rtrant loted the basement of a charmg brick townhoe and right around the rner om Yale Universy.

A Lilliputian gay area boasts queer-iendly rtrants and a uple of lively gay bars, then there’s Poodle Beach (lol), a patch of sand marked by a rabow flag and packed Speedo to Speedo summer.

Gay Days at Disney, which happens every June Orlando, has grown to be a global gay event attractg tens of thoands of people, but a vis to Disney World l anytime of year. While the epicenter of gay life Geia is Atlanta, whose Midtown is home to the state’s most ncentrated LGBTQIA populatn, the llege town of Athens is where you should spend your next Peach Tree State gaytn.

An opulent mp-osium of events cludg drag shows, mil performanc and danc, the Ball benefs lol AIDS chari, and shows that the quirky cy, which birthed high-profile queer artists like the B-52s and Michael Stipe of REM (Indigo Girls also rerd their first album here), has as much substance as do style for gay travelers. The undisputed hub of gay nightlife the Aloha State is Honolulu, but visors will fd the scene tame pared to maland mecs.